Lola the Elf has been visiting our household for quite a few years now, and though Quinn is in her last year of single digits, she still looks forward to spotting her around the house.
Our Elf on the Shelf also looks forward to finding clever new places to hang out for the Christmas holiday.
All the best,
Tanya
All the best,
Tanya
On the Fourth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to me… Excitement in Finding Lola the Elf on the Shelf. Lola has been visiting our home for the past few years now, and Quinn always looks forward to it. She even told me a few days before December that Lola would be returning soon and that she couldn’t wait to find her.
She was so excited and asked to take a picture before opening it. Little did I know, Quinn was collecting the small packets of Reese’s pieces and gave me six today to help me get through grading that last stack of research papers. They tasted even sweeter than I hoped.
So far, Lola has found a few cool places to hide and loves having wardrobe changes too. I wish I had an Elf come check on me from Santa’s Workshop in the North Pole when I was younger.
All the best,
Tanya
On the Eighth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Fun & Creativity with Elf on the Shelf.
“I didn’t see her anywhere!” my six year old said. “You Don’t,” I inquired from the kitchen as Quinn sat at the dining room table eating her breakfast. Each day, our elf friend from the North Pole checks in only daughter and even leaves occasional messages leading up to Christmas Day. This time, she wanted to dress up as Santa, so she hopped in his jacket hanging on the clothesline garland. With a little coaching, my daughter eventually found her.
For the past few years, she’s just been in different places throughout the house, but this year, with the help of Target, she has a few outfits, a chair, suction boots, a candy cane hook and red and white string for dangling from special locations. These accessories have really helped me to have more fun and to get even more creative. There’s signs to use for counting down the days to Christmas, one for a scavenger hunt and one encouraging Quinn to perform good deeds, which she was eager to do at school.
I wish I had an elf to visit me when I was younger. Quinn has already told me that she’ll miss seeing her elf when it’s time for her to go back to the North Pole. I’ll miss her too. But until that day comes, I’m having a lot of fun with her…and Quinn too 😉
All the best,
Tanya
On the ninth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…a new perspective on elf on the shelf. She named her special elf from the North Pole, Lola, and since December 1st, Quinn has looked forward to spotting Lola’s new location. She’s been tucked in a Christmas stocking, hanging out with polar bears, and swinging from light fixtures. The last location was near the living room sofa so she could keep a watch over Quinn. It’s where my poor little girl wanted to rest as we tried to nurse her back to health with a high fever, cough and listlessness before taking her to the emergency room.
Since Quinn was hospitalized on Tuesday, Lola the elf remained at our home. My five year old has been so out of it that she hasn’t even noticed Lola’s absence. But we are so blessed to have many other “elves” watching over Quinn and praying for her speedy recovery. The positive energy and well-wishes from family and friends keeps me hopeful. Elves are known for their small stature, and while people may think posting a comment on social media or sending a text is just a small gesture, it really means the world to me, and I believe our prayers will be answered in a big way.
All the best,
Tanya
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…Christmas Eve excitement. “You know what today is, Mommy…Christmas Eve!” my four year old smiled with joy in her voice. Today, we baked cookies for Santa, our Elf on the Shelf, Olivia, went to her last hiding place to report back to Santa, we watched a Trolls holiday special through Netflix and made sure her little snowflake in her window is working and lights up to alert Santa to stop by our house.
She went out to lunch with her daddy while I took care of some Christmas tasks, and upon arriving home she said, “Mommy, can I go to bed now so that when I wake up it’ll be Christmas?” It reminded me of when I was younger and would go to sleep in the afternoon just so that Christmas would come sooner. I then located this great website so that Quinn could see where Santa is on his route, and she was amazed with how many presents he already delivered: nearly three million.
As she goes to bed in her special Christmas night clothes, I’m sure she’ll wake up extra early as I did when I was her age filled with excitement knowing that Christmas is finally here!
All the best,
Tanya
Quinn with Elf on the Shelf Friend
On the ninth day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree, memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place, bonding time making our own tree and befriending Santa’s elf on the shelf!
At two an a half years old, this is the first Christmas where my daughter truly knows who Santa is and was very excited to see him. Initially, she associated the red and white suit with Santa, so when I purchased the Elf on the Shelf for her, she thought the elf was Santa. When I explained that the Elf was coming to our home to help out Santa and to make sure she was behaving while he was busy preparing for Christmas, Quinn somewhat got the idea. Really, I just think she likes having a friend in the house who knows Santa. She even asked if her elf friend could come to her room to spend the night. I know this is not exactly how the elf is to be used, according to the story, but since Quinn is still young, I am going with the flow. Since she is an only child and is not in school, I occasionally hear her telling her elf friend, “Can you tell Santa I want Lambie for Christmas? I’m going to be good and listen to Mommy and Daddy.” My hope is that she will look forward to having her Elf on the Shelf friend watch over her on Santa’s behalf in the years to come.
All the best,
Tanya
Mommy's Baby Steps 