Wednesday, January 9, 2013

I Miss the Elf

Yes, we're one of those families.  We have an Elf on our shelf between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Jingle made his debut the day after Christmas and brought his book to remind the kids of his story



This is the forth Christmas Jingle has been checking in on our family.  I couldn't believe it when I had Zoe check the book.  Four years?  Wow.  But sure enough, the book is dated 12/10/2009! There have been may good hiding spots in the past.  Some spots were more obvious than others, to make it an even playing field for the competitive Higby's wanting to be the first to spot Jingle each morning.


This year, Jingle really stepped things up.  Some would say I have too much time on my hands.  I like to blame Pinterest.



























As crazy as it was to add "another thing" to the nighttime routine, I found myself really enjoying it.  It made me take a minute and think about my kids.  How could I make them smile?  What would make them laugh?  Where could I put him that would take some time for them to notice?  And as I moved Jingle each night, I got to slow down and enjoy the silliness of the season. And I'd pray that the kids would remember the real reason for Christmas or maybe more specifically for one child who had a bad day. Sure, there were some nights that I'd be in bed and realize I didn't "do the Jingle thing", and some nights I would just wait until morning.  But most nights, it was the first thing I did after the kids were tucked in.

For the first few mornings after Christmas, I didn't really notice that Jingle was "back in the North Pole". But now that the Christmas Crazy is done, and we are back to the daily routine, I miss him.  Not just because it gave me something else to yell at the kids "you better not argue...Jingle's listening...".  I think I miss my time with Jingle. 

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