elf of the shelf: parenting fail.

i talked shaun into getting an elf on the shelf. he wasn't too excited about it.

i thought to myself "this will be fun for our girls. they will love finding this cute little elf in different places in our house each day!" (and yes, i do have thoughts that end in exclamation points.)

we compromised and got the "plush" elf minus the book. we couldn't buy into the idea of convincing our girls that an elf was watching their behavior and reporting back to santa. just can't do it. but we aren't big santa people.

but...convincing them that the elf can move places on her own? i'm all for that!

back to the story. eva named our new elf snowflake. i told the girls that snowflake appears different places in the house when they are sleeping or not looking. eva was skeptical, but kept an eye on snowflake waiting for her to make a move.

yesterday evening i set snowflake on a cabinet before we left the house. eva knew exactly where snowflake was and what she was doing when we left.

as the girls were loading into the van (you know, the one that brought sexy back), i moved snowflake. the entire time we were gone eva talked about snowflake. i was kind of surprised at how enthused she was about this thing.

when we got home the girls walked in and i waited for eva to spot snowflake.

eva nearly flipped her lid when she saw snowflake hanging from the window. in a very high pitched and breathy voice she was yelling "snowflake MOVED! she really moved! on her own! mommy she moved!!!!" i had to hide my face. i told her to go tell shaun. she ran outside and was yelling at the top of her lungs that snowflake had moved.

then she and lily came back in. just right inside the kitchen door. and they wouldn't go any farther.

eva was totally freaked out that snowflake had moved on her own while we were gone.

suddenly snowflake wasn't fun anymore. snowflake had officially become "creepy" as eva said. and then she couldn't stop talking about snowflake moving and wondering how she had moved on her own.

she also wouldn't go near snowflake. she didn't want to even touch snowflake.

eva kept watching and waiting for snowflake to make her next move.

this was right before bedtime. i was beginning to think this could backfire on us with a sleepless night and nightmares about the traveling elf named snowflake.

finally shaun had to try to help eva figure out how a stuffed doll would actually move on it's own. eva wasn't getting it so finally i just had to tell her that i had moved snowflake before we left. i could't have eva being freaked out by a stuffed doll that was intended for a little innocent fun.

i still think that getting snowflake was a great idea. even though not everyone agrees...like shaun...

and eva...okay, maybe lily agrees that snowflake was a good idea...

and i think claire agrees as well...

but i am still keeping an eye on snowflake because you can never be too sure.

i did find the little hussy with her arms around my jar of nutella this morning. and i don't care if you do work for santa. don't touch mama's nutella.

p.s. how funny would it be to hang that thing from eva's bunk bed where she would wake up with snowflake staring at her? don't worry, i'm not that mean. :)