My Favorite New Tradition: Elf on a Shelf

I love the Elf on the Shelf that my sister gave me this year. It is a cute little book and this comes with an elf that you name as a family.

This little "elf" appears in the house around thanksgiving and "flies" to the North Pole to tell Santa what he's observed in that room that day. Then the next morning he "flies" somewhere else to observe.

So far, he's been in the den, each child's room, the car, the kitchen and the hall. On Christmas day he "disappears" until next year.

Each morning, my kids wake up eager to find the shelf elf! It has been hilarious.

As I'm sitting here blogging, my daughter just got up and said "Where's Mombu" today. That is the short name for our shelf elf.

The long name?

"Mombu Dogface in the Banana Patch" ... it is sort of a long story but let's say this... we have two girls and three guys in our family and when it came to voting... my daughter and I lost. (Although our name (Rhee Ree) wasn't much better... and is another long story.)

It is these "private jokes" and fun family traditions that knit us together and make our home life a great one. We have tough times but we go through them together.

I think this is a great thing to do in a classroom in December. This is a time of year when kids are a little tired and it helps to have something like this.

What are your new traditions for your holidays?

tag: Christmas, tradition, shelf elf, holidays, family