In Which the Elf gets Touched and Loses His Magic

The Elf on the Shelf is no joking matter around here.  I mean serious business folks.

The other day, I took the boys to Target and there they were, the Elf on the Shelf dolls on sale for all to see.  My kids just stood there and stared.

Luckily, I had prepared them for this in advance.  Go me.

Sam (10 yr old):  ”Mom! Look!  It’s the knock offs!”

Me trying not to make a public scene: “Yep, just keep walking kids…”

Nephi (8 yr old):  ”Why do they sell fake ones?”

Me: “Remember, I told you, you have to get on a waiting list to get a real one.  Some parents get impatient and just go buy fake one for their kids.”

Sam: “So, Mom, let me get this straight… mom and dad’s who buy the knock offs take them home, pretend they are real, and at night they move the elf themselves?”

Me: “Yeah, pretty much.”

Sam: “That’s really sad.  I’m SOOOO glad we got a REAL elf!!”

Nephi: “Me too!”

I’m trying not to bust a gut laughing….

Then everywhere we go, the boys have to tell people that we have a REAL elf!  Not one of the knock-off’s at Target.  People are always trying really hard not to laugh, because it’s just too stinking funny!

But this Elf business, it’s no joke.

On Thursday, my 4 year old was goofing off around the Elf, and bumped him off the table… I try to keep him up and away from the little ones, and I thought he was pretty safe, but I was wrong.  My older boys started FREAKING OUT!!  Yelling at him NOT to touch him, which he did…

You would think someone in the family had just died.

Drama.  Tears. Flying fists of fury.  Jake almost got disinherited from his brothers for ruining Christmas.  It was all very tragic.

Time for mama action.

I had read something on Pintrest about a magic recovery kit and I told the boys I would get online and order one and have it over-nighted.  Finally, they calmed down, but Jake was still in the dog house.

So I searched around and found a super cute idea, but it included glitter.  I hate glitter.  I hate it even more than that stupid Easter basket grass.  There was no way I was going to have it sprinkled around my house.

So I came up with something better.

The magic band-aid.

Because band-aids fix everything, right??

I found the original letter here… and I just changed some of the wording for the band-aid instead of the magic dust.  I also colored the band-aid with a red gel pen with a little sparkle in it.  On the inside of the band-aid, I also colored the white square with a green glitter gel pen to make it look like the patch of magic — which turned out to be an excellent move because my kids were super observant about that green magic square that was going to save Christmas…

I was pretty happy about how the design all turned out!

He probably should have aimed a little higher… just sayin’…

Since it was Friday, and our Elf takes the weekends off to party at the pole and go to church on Sunday, he left this note under the tree this morning:

And all is well in the world again!

Now, I have had some requests for copies of my Elf of the Shelf Magic Band-Aid Recovery Kit from other parents who are anti-glitter and anti-mess.  So I whipped up a PDF version to pass along!

Elf on the Shelf Magic Band-Aid Recovery Kit.PDF

Enjoy!!!!

-Cat

Credits for the designs used in the making of the kit:
Poem: Over the Big Moon
Snowflake backgrounds: Emma’s Trend, Wallpaper Cave
North Pole Stamps: santasofficialnorthpolemail.com, Wacky Jacquis Designs