The Battle of Evermore

The Elves have arrived! These didn't travel from Middle Earth. More like the top of the Earth. Sent down with instructions to keep children in line and report back to the chubby guy in the red suit. These darling little fellows can convert the naughtiest of children in this four week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Our elves arrived the night before Thanksgiving and have been wreaking havoc helping keep order ever since.

They traveled with us to my mother-in-law's for Thanksgiving and since we returned home they've been sitting on their perch in our foyer keeping watch over the boys by day, and getting into all sorts of trouble by night.

So far, they've swung from my mother-in-law's chandelier, ridden on her fancy one-of-a-kind reindeer (oops!), eaten Ritz crackers, let our dog Cooper eat an entire bag of Snausages while we were out watching the Alabama-Auburn game. Since coming home, they've eaten the candy from the boys' Advent calendar, hidden in their book bags, snuck into Brendan's room and left a dollar bill,  played Beckett's guitar, and various and sundry misadventures.

Beckett is mostly oblivious to the elves and their adventures. He finds it amusing when they get up to something, but Brendan's joy at their misdeeds is palpable. He falls into fits of laughter when he sees what they've been up to while he was sleeping. And the couple of nights they've remained on their shelf, he has seemed quietly disappointed.

Honestly, I'm not sure which has been the best part for me...seeing the joy this simple Christmas ritual brings my children, or the ease with which it allows me to correct bad behavior. All I have to do is say "The elves are watching you," whenever they're yelling or messing with one another and you wouldn't believe how fast their behavior changes!

Now, I know some of y'all may think it dishonest, especially those of you who don't allow your children to believe in Santa. To me, it's a fun, harmless way to reinforce good behavior and enhance the magic of Christmas as only a child can see it.

Merry Christmas, Y'all! And happy Elfscapades!