|Does the Elf on the Shelf Work?? Parents say "He's worth his weight in gold!"
The answer to that question would be a resounding yes. Just ask almost any parent who has found out about Elf on the Shelf or the kids who wake up to find him every pre Christmas morning.
Every so often a Christmas Tradition takes hold and becomes a part of our lives. In the last six years there has been a tradition revived by a mother/daughter team that has brought excitement and good behavior home for the holidays! Author Carol Abersold began this tradition with her family in the '70's and a few years back 'packaged' the idea and made it easy for everyone to start this same tradition with their children. We began selling this item a few years back and it is always sell out by the end of the first couple of weeks of December, but folks still try to track it down. It's called the Elf on the Shelf!
The Elf on the Shelf concept is simple, but must be followed closely to be a success in your home. After purchasing the elf set, you study first so you know what parts of the story to emphasize when telling. Pick a quiet night and make it a family event, invite the Grandparents over and have the best storyteller read the book to the kids.
In the story the Elf, Your Elf, must be named to become magic. Thereafter, each night he will report into to Santa, telling if you've been good or bad and then before you awake he returns to his watch, but he will land in a different spot, so each morning the kids get up to see where he has landed....this is how you know he is magic! Now you can't touch him or play with him because he will lose his magic....he just sits and watches all day long!
This tradition is growing each and every year and has now been adopted into daycares, schools and thousands of homes across the land. The best success stories of course come from the kids and here is our favorite that we've heard in our store:
A little boy came in and told us, "hey I got one of those elves! His name is Ruckus. Last year, one time I was so bad, that elf didn't come back for two days! So I had to straighten up and then he came back! Mom said he was embarrassed that I had been so bad!"
Christmas traditions are fun to build and see how they grow each year. It might be through decorating your family Christmas tree with personalized Christmas Ornaments or decorating the front Holiday Doors. And who could leave out hanging your personalized Christmas stockings on the mantle, it all adds up to family fun and Christmas traditions to last a lifetime.
