The Elf on the Shelf! Me Too!!

So after years of avoiding the marketing gimmick of "Elf on the Shelf" I finally succumbed to the pressure and popular demand. I am ashamed to say that I am the proud owner of not one but 2 Elves! However I am proud to say I did not completely fall for it. I bought some cheap elf stuffed toys so technically "They" did not win!

Tootsie is a sucker for every popular toy. She is every marketer's dream kid. She wants every single
thing to hit the market! And she has been begging for an Elf on the shelf for years now! Now this is my little minx who long lost the "Santa fantasy". For that she blames her older brother! So she knows the truth about the Elf, but that has not stopped her.

She is 8 now and every year I tell myself, she is too old for this stuff! So why now? Well I am a sucker too I guess! We have a neighbor who indulges her kids and I get to hear all about it when Tootsie comes home. This year she helped decorate their tree, spent a night making christmas ornaments with them while mom here has no lights, no tree (tree still in box). So I got guilt tripped! and decided time to get into the christmas spirit! And fell for the trap!


But I am no pro! So I do everything in reverse! The little elf dolls arrived and took a spot on the mantle in the living room. Tootsie took a look at it and said "Thats not the elf on the shelf, those are stuffed toys!" She also added, "I guess they are better than the little wooden pinnochio doll of last year" "Which" she had to point out "never moved!" Ugh!! The demands!

4 days later the elves on the shelf still sat there and Tootsie with her "atleast you tried" look just huffed! This bad mom forgot all about moving the elves! Now I tried to buy my way back in, so she got early christmas presents. She got a really nice camera that she thought was pretty impressive! But I decided I needed to top that!

Finally today the elf made a move! He was found sitting on the kitchen counter guilty of attempting bad selfies with said camera! He even left a note!

Tootsie was tickled to see it and it was worth all the effort that this mom went through. Then the neighbors kids came over! And 3 kids gathered around my fake elf! It sure felt like judgement day!
"Are you sure that's a real elf" asked my neighbor's kid suspiciously eyeing it!
"Yes I am positive" I croaked
"The magical kind? But you cant be touching it or it will lose all its magic!!"  as I tried to extract the note! Hey I had a point to prove!
Even maybe even he could smell the incompetence, and knew I needed all the help I can get!
"Ofcourse it is!" I said. "See it left a note and everything!"
And with that I rushed them off. Time to switch topics if ever they was one!

Later that day Tootsie declared cynically “I really wish I didn’t know the truth! My friends still believe in Santa!”

Well, I  am not so sure about that!  But lets all just pretend in the fantasy for a little bit! Why not! So Tootsie and I talked about how much fun this is even if we are pretending. And as always we kind of lost track of who was the adult for a bit.

But Tootsie I can tell is into it. She made the elves this little bunk bed after school! And we even printed real Elf poems and named them Elfie and Elfolina! Talk about doing everything backwards!

Edited to add: And guess what awaited her this morning. More Elf mischief! Elfie was caught making some smores this morning! While Elfolina just seemed to have been eating a lot of candy! Wonder who she got that from!!

She thought it was really funny! Its a struggle though. With Cheeky trying his hardest to be the obnoxious older brother and pointing out every few minutes the flaws of fantasy! And Tootsie swinging between wanting to believe and knowing the reality! I was the only one who was all dreamy eyed but I am proud to say insanity prevailed. And we made it through this morning with all the giggles. Even cynical teen had to admit (not out loud, never out loud but the smile was a give away) that there was fun in it!

SCORE!! But christmas season is not over yet! And this mom is going to need a lot of help to keep it entertaining! At least I think this means I don't need to take the tree out of the box or go outside in the cold and hang up lights! I wish!


Tootsie left the house this morning saying "I wonder what he will do tomorrow!" Oh Sigh! Google please help!

So you think I am really going to keep this up? I wouldn't place my bets on it. But if you are, I sure hope you win!!

 P.S. I need to thank fellow blogger Abha for the wonderful "Elfie notes" idea. I love her little posts this year of Elfie tales and shamelessly stole the idea! Thanks Abha!

The little femnist

In this day and age of feminism I have a little Pixie who never needed to be taught the word. She was just born as one. She is the 2 yr old who changed every rhyme with boys in it to say girls. She sang "Baa baa black sheep.. with little girl who lived down the street". She enjoys reading about Rosa Parks and Malala at Age 7. She questions every single atrocity to women. Did you know women did not have the right to vote? That's ridiculous! She says. She also adores Martin Luther King and has books about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. Also made me buy the movies Selma and Mahatma Gandhi so she could watch them.

She is the little girl who decided she wants to wrestle in the junior wrestling team next year. She couldn't this year as other activities interfered. But she came home one day and told me "I am going to be on the wrestling team next year!" Being a wrestling family, she has wrestled before and my son is on the wrestling team, so I didn't think much of it. But I did not have to wait long for an explanation. Indignant she says "The boys in my class think they are stronger! I'll show them!" One of the kids in her class wrestles on the team and she is hoping other boys in her class will show up too and she can teach them a thing or 2. I had to tell Ms. Firebrand that she cant be caught wrestling someone on school grounds! "I know mom!" she says rolling her eyes! "Just on the mat!"

This week she has been tasked with doing a project about a famous personality. Her teacher said pick a personality that changed the world! And the examples were of Walt Disney and such. So we were surprised at her pick "Juliette Gordon Low" Apparently she is the lady who fought for Women's rights and established Girls Scouts. Tootsie sits there on her tablet reading about Low and watching videos about her biography so she can be well informed. And then she comes to us and says "I dont get it!If boys and girls are equal why is there a boys scouts and a girls scouts?" Fair point I tell ya! And after learning more she has decided she wants to be a cub scout! I had to defend Juliette Low saying she was first trying to get Girls to join the scouts which is why she formed a special club! So with that defense we continue on the project of Juliette Gordon Low. But we are unimpressed that the 2 clubs have not yet been merged!

I think I have a politician in the making here! #EqualAllTheWay #GirlPower