I know many of you moms (and dads too) think that the part you play in operation Christmas at your house is in fact, Santa Claus. Why wouldn’t you? At some point, you reveal that the toys did not actually magically appear but were put there by you. You ate the cookies. You drank the milk. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” is about you. However, over the last couple of years, it has come to my attention, that Santa is not the part I play. I am, in fact, an elf. You may be wondering how I came to this conclusion. I am so glad you asked. I will lay it out for you and let you make up your own mind.
Being the mom of two little boys, I am immersed in the magic of the holiday season. It is a busy time for us moms. It is a busy time for elves as well. While getting ready for the 12 days of Christmas, I knew I wanted to do an elf-themed day, so I did some research and based on that, I became convinced of my elf role. Let’s take a closer look at what elves are up to on a daily basis and what they are responsible for.
Waking Up Early and Coordinating the Christmas Decorating.
I do not know about you, but this is me. I get up so early sometimes, it is like I never went to sleep. What is sleep by the way? The tree, the lights, the stockings, the table, you name it, and we coordinate it. Christmas decorating would look a lot like we phoned Charlie Brown for help if others were left in charge. That is not a knock against Charlie Brown at all. If you’ve read my other posts, you know how I feel about Charlie and the whole Peanuts gang. However, as much as we moms may love Charlie Brown, most of us do not want his tree.
Keeping the Kitchen Flooded With Smells of Christmas Baking.
How many things do you bake at Christmas? I feel like at least one counter in my kitchen is a dedicated dessert buffet throughout the month of December. Mostly because there are seasonal favorites that we love to have every year but also because I like to try new things with the kids. Just this week alone, we have had the Oreo peppermint bark, some brownies and we decorated sugar cookies. That is usually a lot of fun. Big love (Wood, my oldest), was putting sprinkles on his cookie and he said, “Whoa, I may have gone overboard,” followed by, “Can I have some more?” I laughed and looked at him and said, “You heard yourself, right?” I think most moms could go head to head with the elves in the baking category.
Completing Gift Wrapping Including Bow Making.
Again, me. Do you have a strategy each year for wrapping? Is it color themed or does everyone pick their own paper? What about ribbons and bows? Aside from using them in decorating, I have always been a fan of a well-made bow on a present. They are fun to make and to me, it just adds a little sparkle for the tree to be surrounded in beautifully wrapped packages. Of course, that will all disappear in about an hour on Christmas morning. Seriously, though, stop and think about sending someone else out to purchase your wrapping paper and ribbon. My crew would show up with paper full of llamas in Santa hats or something similar. Nothing wrong with that of course if that is your theme. The point I am making is you probably decide and coordinate the plan for gift wrap. You are the one probably staying up to do the wrapping too. Yep, I think we fit right in with the gift wrapping and bow making elves.
Keeping An Eye on the Kids and Maintaining ‘The List.’
Buddy the elf said it best when he said, “There’s room for everyone on the Nice list.” While this is true, we moms still point out that there are two lists and somebody’s watching. “I’m Getting Nuttin’ For Christmas,” may be on continuous repeat at your house. Aside from patiently instilling good behavior practices on a regular basis, we also try to teach kindness, generosity and the joy of giving. Last year I started separating the kids and taking them to pick out something for each other. They got to experience the joy of seeing someone open a present they had especially chosen. It is also sweet to see what they pick out for me. Letting kids do whatever they want is easy. Parenting and guiding your kids to help them become the young men and women they are supposed to be is the real work. Hang in there. What you do day in and day out is priceless. In addition to the Naughty and Nice List, there is also their list for Santa. You are probably the one driving this activity as well. You make sure it gets written so everyone has an idea what your little one is hoping Santa will bring him or her. You help coordinate getting gift ideas and send those out to everyone in the family. You are making sure everything is covered because that is what you do. Yet another elf responsibility that you own.
Without Elves, Santa’s Entire Operation is In Jeopardy.
Lastly, I read this statement in my research and was overwhelmingly persuaded of my part as an elf in this Christmas production. If you really think about it, Santa is more like the logistics of the operation. Let’s refer to him as Amazon. Sure, they deliver your gifts and without them, there might be significantly less presents but without you, the entire operation is in jeopardy and a big fail in my opinion. You are the one coordinating your little one’s gifts (Santa, non-Santa, and stockings), holiday baking, decorating, wrapping, teacher’s gifts, special holiday items needed for themed school days or school parties, gifts for family, Christmas cards, photos for the Christmas cards, and the all important Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menu. I’m tired just typing all of that and it is not even an all-inclusive list. Amazon delivers the orders you place. You do the rest.
I’ve got news for you. If it decorates like and elf, bakes like and elf, wraps like and elf, and coordinates gifts and ALL Christmas activities like and elf, it’s an elf. You and I are elves.
So, in the spirit of embracing your real self, here are some fun ideas for a special day with the kids.
First, learn your elf name! This is great fun for kids. We had fun figuring out the names of everyone in the family. I have included a chart below to find out your elf name, but you can also search online and find similar items.
For a cute elf project, follow the instructions in the link below to make your own elf. This little guy is super cute and if you did not purchase an elf on the shelf and wanted to do that with your kids, you could easily use something like this instead. Again, I have an 8 year old and 5 year old so depending on your child’s age, you may want to have the items to cut already done so they can assist with gluing and putting it all together. I mention that because attention span for crafts can be low at our house so that will help things go quickly. My two loved him and even argued over his name. Wood wanted Elvis and Graham wanted Elfie. We finally settled on a compromise, Elfis.
To go along with our elf theme, we had to watch the movie Elf and we also made these Christmas elf shakes. As you can see by the look on Graham’s face in the picture, they were a hit. Make up a batch of these yummy shakes and enjoy your trip through the seven levels of the candy cane forest past the sea of swirly twirly gumdrops with Buddy on his adventure.
Another fun thing we do around the holidays is make our favorite cookies and do some ‘elf deliveries.’ We grab a handful of cookies and put them in a cute plastic bag tied with ribbon. Then, my fellow elves and I will take them and deliver them. It is a good excuse to stop and visit with friends during what can be a hectic time and it’s always nice to let people know you are thinking about them. This is something you can still do while practicing social distancing so consider doing an elf drop off for someone who might need a visit.
I hope you will have fun embracing your true elf self. You may not hear it often, but believe me, your family and especially your kids appreciate all you do to make each Christmas special. When I least expect it, one of my boys will say, “Hey mom, when are we going to do Grinch day?” It warms my heart because I realize the things we do are leaving an impression and we are making some great memories.
Elf also reminds us to treat everyday like Christmas, remember to use 6-inch ribbon curls, and to not be a cotton- headed ninny -muggins.
Sincerely,
Gingerbread McSnowflake
Stay tuned for more of the 12 Days of Christmas
