Buddy has landed this Christmas season!
This week our Elf on the Shelf flew back from the North Pole to begin his daily visits to our home until Christmas Eve! If you are not familiar with this tradition, how it goes is that Santa sends down his Elves from the North Pole in the days leading up to Christmas to keep an eye over the little boys and girls, watching for both bad and good behavior; they then return to the North Pole overnight to report their findings to Santa. The elves then return each morning again to the houses but landing in a new location of the home, where kids then have the fun of relocating the elves again the next day. The elves make their final visit of the season on Christmas Eve, then fly back North until same time next year.
We always start our Elf on the Shelf season by reading the story together as a family. And if T needs a reminder of how Buddy's visits work, we return to the story throughout the Christmas season.
The story also encourages the children to talk to their elves, asking them to tell them their wishes for the holiday season, either for themselves or for others. While kids can talk to their elves, they cannot talk back as the elves only can talk to the Big Guy up North. Kids also cannot touch their elves or Santa must then recall the elves from their home mission. I personally love that there’s a storybook that arrives with Buddy to serve as a gentle reminder should we need to re-read the story or rules again throughout the season.
Buddy landed in our orchid on Tuesday...
Buddy arrived to our home on Monday for this holiday season (yes, T named him after the movie character from Elf!), and he’s been making his daily returns every morning in different locations throughout the house. T is having a ball waking up in the morning and running to find Buddy! I am so glad we started this tradition with T last year, but he’s a lot more into it this year I think (especially the talking to Buddy part of the program). Below are some photos of where Buddy’s landed to date.
Choo Choo! It appears Buddy likes trains as much as T does!
Buddy wanted to spice up this visit by landing on our spice rack Wednesday.
Anyone need a workout Buddy?
T was so excited when we got the Advent calendar out... it was painful for him to wait until the next day to open the first door!
Also yesterday T started on his LEGO advent calendar! This is an entirely new tradition in we’ve not done an Advent calendar before at all with T. As you might know, Advent calendars countdown the days until Christmas starting December 1 and give up a treat per day until the Big Day. Well, this calendar offers up a few LEGO blocks daily that eventually create a holiday city scene once all 232 or so pieces come together on Christmas Eve. While T and I will open the doors every morning, it will be C and T who will build the scene together nightly until it’s complete.
The LEGO Advent calendar up close. T can't wait to open all those doors and get building!
T opened the first door yesterday morning before school. He couldn't wait to build the guy with Dad!
Dad's home! They work together to assemble the first piece of the LEGO Advent scene.
T plays with his first LEGO man from his Advent calendar.
I also picked up a few new ornaments yesterday, one at T’s request and one that will hopefully crack up C…
I found this nice glass Woody Toy Story ornament at my local Target. He's a little fancier than the Buzz we already had, but it was important for me to get a Woody to go with Buzz this year (at T's request).
"Fragile... ooh, it's Italian!"
I hope you are enjoying the start of your holiday season! Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, and/or something else that you celebrate, I hope that you and your families are cherishing tradition, both those which you’ve brought from generations past and those new ones you’ll create now for generations to come.
Real Mom Time (RMT) 