the elf thing

ehhhhhhh. i tried to ignore this whole elf on the shelf thing. i have an enormous privilege to shape these two children and instill the true meaning of the season. WELL gracie came home from school telling me all about her friends who have an elf at their house! lucky for her, we had the whole elf on the shelf kit that was given to us last year. out of the closet it came and elf showed up. gracie smothered it with love and hugs and kisses. that night we read the book that accompanied it and it specifically said NOT to touch the elf, or else it would lose it’s magic powers. cue the waterworks of tears from gracie. #elfFAIL number 1. so we had a do over and alas elf regained the magical powers and gracie recovered from the trauma. but here’s the kicker. our elf shows up to praise gracie for her positive behaviors that have been observed throughout the day. he shows up to encourage her to live the way we talk about everyday, with kindness and God in our hearts. and then THIS happened…we ran into one of her classmate’s mothers the other day and she let us know that S had asked if he could pray before dinner. he proceeded to pray for our sweet friend, baby annabelle, “because gracie told me to.” OH MY. my four year old child has been leading her classmates to compassionately care for others. to pray for others. my job is done! our elf may not ask gracie to focus on gifts and naughty or nice or santa but his presence in our home is opening up a wonderful dialogue of pointing our hearts to the true meaning of this season. let the spirit of the elf remain year round!