Elf on the shelf dilemma!

[jennymac]

So, I started doing the Elf on the Shelf thing with my kids about 3 years as I thought it would be cute and they would enjoy it, which they did. They loved the whole thing and seeing where "Alfie" was each morning. The problem now is that I hid him in a suitcase during the year when he was supposedly back in the North Pole with Santa. A couple of weeks ago, ds (8) mentioned that he and dd (9) had found him during the summer when they were looking for ds's sunglasses in the suitcase. Apparently dd had told him not to say anything to us about it at the time but he obviously forgot this day that he mentioned it. Dh and I kind of glossed over it as I was worried it would lead to questions about Santa being real. I suspect dd has her doubts about Santa and I think she is old enough now to be told but ds firmly believes and I would like to get at least another year with him believing as he is our youngest. So, should I brazen out the Elf thing and bring Alfie out again this year - he usually appears from the North Pole the night we put our Christmas tree up? Or should I leave it given that they probably know now that he is just a normal stuffed toy?!

[VoldemortsNipple]

I think 8 and 9 is old enough to know that elf on the shelf isn't a real elf from the North Pole even if they do believe in Father Christmas. Why don't you ask them in a round about way if they're looking forward to Alfie coming this year. They will either tell you
A) he's not real and they don't want to do elf on the shelf because it's for babies
B) he's not real but they still want him to come because it's fun
C) they will act as if he is real which I would take for they're not ready to give up believing just yet and carry on as normal.

For what it's worth, my dcs still get Christmas Eve hampers delivered by the elves and stockings filled by Santa and they are 14, 17, and 20. We carry it on because it's fun rather than because we're delusional

[DontOpenDeadInside]

Could he arrive with a note saying he'd visited in the summer to see if they were being good? Would they buy that? Or that he'd been trapped in there all year by accident and Santa had missed him?
My DDS are 12, 8 and 6 and I think the 8 year old is suspicious this year.