The Elf On The Shelf

I bought a great book for my kids and have started the most fabulous tradition. The Elf On The Shelf comes with a 1950s style felt elf and a book with beautiful watercolor illustrations. I heard about it at MOPS, then it was all the talk at bunco that same night. I called 5 (yes five!) stores within 30 minutes of us to see if they had the book in stock. Only one of them did, the others had them on order. I asked the one that had them if they had a lot, I was told they had 6 left, but they had 24 the day before. I asked her to put my name on one, by the time I purchased mine 30 minutes later they were down to two! These books are selling like hotcakes! The book explains how Santa knows if you are naughty or nice. Santa sends a magical elf to watch over you. You can talk to the elf but he can't talk to you, it is one of Santa's rules. You are not allowed to touch the elf or he might lose his magic. At night the elf flies to the North Pole to play with his friends and tell Santa if you were naughty or nice that day. He will be back at your house before you wake up in the morning, but he will be in a different spot. My kids love getting up and looking for where Mr. Scotters (you name your elf as soon as you read the book the first time) is going to hang out that day. It has been so much fun to watch the kids work together to find the elf and it has helped me figure out what Jack told Santa he wanted for Christmas. It is really sweet to watch Jack talk to Mr. Scotters, Ben and Lauren ask me to lift them up every morning so they can say good morning. Yesterday I saw Jack standing eye to eye with Mr. Scotters scrunching up his face like he was in pain. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that he wanted to touch Mr. Scotters so bad, but he didn't want him to lose his magic so he was trying not to. How cute is that? I cannot recommend this book enough. It is kind of expensive, but I have already gotten my money's worth watching my kids enjoy the holiday season! Not to mention the improved behavior I have been enjoying!