Okay, so lately I have seen many remarks about the Elf on the Shelf on facebook, and I am admitting in public forum that I am "that" person. :) And I am having a ball!
We have never really promoted Santa with our kids. We might have a little Santa fun from year to year and put out cookies and milk or something like that, but at the end of the day our kids know that their gifts come from us and that Jesus is who we celebrate at Christmas. If you don't know the story behind the Elf on the Shelf, it comes in a box with a book that tells everyone that Santa has sent him to basically keep an inventory of who is being naughty and nice. At night, the Elf flies back to the North Pole to report on our behavior. And, he sometimes gets in to trouble around the house and always ends up in a different spot. I found a twist to all of this on Pinterest that I loved. Some may not agree with me, some may think I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth. You are all welcome to your opinion, but this worked for me. The twist on Pinterest was that, instead of the book that comes with the Elf, this lady wrote a letter to her kids from "Santa". She wanted her kids to understand that the one that we celebrate is Jesus, but that it is also okay to have a little Santa fun. The letter explains that Santa does not keep a list of rights and wrongs because Jesus came to die for our sins and because of His great love for us, He extends so much grace to us. The letter explains that the Elf is just learning how to be an Elf and sometimes gets into trouble at night and that we would need to extend lots of grace to him as he learns, just like Jesus does with us. So, I put the book in the closet and put the letter in the box. The kids are loving it, especially Tyler. We had to name the Elf and the kids came up with Chillie. Kayla wanted Willie off of Duck Dynasty and Tyler wanted to name him Cheerio, so we compromised. Every morning when we get up and see what Chillie has done, I say to Tyler, "what are we going to do with this Elf?". His response, "just show him grace". It makes me smile and the whole family is having fun with it. I am not doing crazy, make a mess, up at 3:00 a.m. kind of stuff. Thought I would show you all some pictures. Most of them have come off of Pinterest. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Pinterest???
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