Christmas Elf - how is it going?

[cassell]

We're having great fun with our elf for the first time this year. DS1 is 3.8 and loves discovering what cheekiness the elf has been up to in the morning.

Most surprising of all has been dh's attitude - he was really sniffy about the whole idea and thought it was ridiculous. However he's really getting into it and keeps coming up with new ideas, he even went out in the middle of the night to set up the elf in the car

How are you all getting on and what's been the most successful 'mischief' the elf has caused so far?

Ours going really well - only started this year with dd 8 so wasn't year if she would still believe but oh yes she does. Best one so far is Eric has stolen a snowy French Fancy to chomp on from the cupboard and got all icing over his face! DH been away since 2nd Dec so hoping we'll get into the swing of it tomorrow when he's back.

Ours has eaten lots of chocolates and strewn the wrappers around the lounge whilst having her hand in the tin - DD loved that.

We came down to discover she'd pulled all the tissues out the box yesterday.

Today she was sat at the piano.

She has also pulled the stones out the fireplace - a big no-no in our house.

Found her with her bum sticking out the Xmas tree too.

She had some chocolate tree dec's in her lap for DD one day so she's not always naughty.

She also hung DD's knickers on the tree and wore a pair on her head

That's it so far...

I thought she may unroll the loo paper one morning and spill milk while trying to get DD's breakfast. I may find her with her head in the washing machine or tucked up in bed with DD.

It's lots of fun but also a bit tedious having to remember to do something each night.

Mildly my DD is also 8 and totally believes

isn't it fab ElfOn - love your ideas- thought would start off pretty tame and ramp it up towards xmas. Knickers, wrapped up loo, helium balloons, squeezing into a candle lantern, snow angels etc to follow!

Ooh I like the knickers idea - ds1 is totally obsessed with pants so think he'd like that.

I thought 8 year olds would be far too cynical these days so nice to hear your dds are still enjoying it.

We've had:

On the christmas tree

Hiding in a pile of (clean!) laundry

Having eaten an orange with all the peel around

Been cutting with ds1's scissors so lots of bits of paper all over the floor

Outside in the car

Set up a tea party for ds1's cuddly toys

Reading one of ds1's books

So nothing very exciting so far - need to ramp it up a bit the closer we get I think

DS has enjoyed finding the elf having done a green (food colouring) wee into a breakfast bowl. He loved that so much that I might do it again

Unimpressed with him making Santa hats and blue-tacking them to photos of himself and DD but I think he'll like it when he wakes to find Rudolph noses painted on everyone.

DH has been very scathing about it but the last few nights he's been full of enthusiasm and ideas

We haven't started yet decided to wait until after dgs birthday (Monday) but all of us me, dd and dh can't wait it's our first year too.

Loving the ideas, dd hasn't decided yet if she wants him to get up to mischief.

Our most successful was the elf was found with the laptop and she had done the elf yourself thing with them doing the Charleston. They laughed their socks off all day!!

Great ideas. I've taken to hiding it every other night. I think it's more exciting I keep forgetting to hide it

WTF???? Have I completely and utterly missed this fad? What's with the elves?

My teens are loving it too! They post updates on twitter. Our elf has bought them gloves for the cold weather, a guiness world record challenge ( which they are obsessed with), he's hacked their Facebook pages, blared Christmas music into their bedrooms at 6 am so far. I want him to eat some of their advent chocs but it might cause world war 3!

classic - love the fact teens are lovin it.

My charges are loving it! Our elf has, eaten chocolate and left wrappers, changed photos in the frames, left Xmas baubles for tree, written 'be good' in green &red M&Ms, made a snowman on fridge, left gingerbread men to decorate along with a floury mess, left Elf DVD and popcorn, left snowman & trees to decorate, started making a paper chain and left strips for the boys to finish it. Hmm, not sure if we've done others but tonight they will be In playroom with board games out and this week he will be, photocopying his bottom on the scanner, having snowball fight with cotton wool balls and cadburys snowballs, hanging toilet paper all over tree, hanging up candy canes wherever he can, making snowflakes for the boys to decorate with and the one that will get the best laugh (I think) is making green and red milk for the boys breakfasts ;-)

I've just written the goodbye letter and am a bit teary

Hopefully the sight of the Christmas Eve box will distract the DC and we will have none of

This is our first year & it is going well. Personally I loved blowing up 30 balloons & the elf holding a un blown balloon in his hands.

Also he rode a dinosaur into battle playmobile knights on horseback.

Tonight as our tree is now up the elf will wrap the tree in toilet roll. I can't wait.

We've had a great time, this year is our first year and we (mostly dh) have been raiding Pinterest for ideas, the elf on the first evening drew on a picture of the girls with an OHP pen (moustaches beards and glasses (DD1 7 got really upsat and wrote to santa telling him how naughty the elf had been !)

We've done playing on the ds, eating gingerbread the girls had made, tea party with their 3 bears, writing christmas card to the reindeer.

We had one morning where we forgot so sent the kids downstairs and drew moustaches on each other (Holly had been 'touched' the day before so then we had to do the cinnamon recovery to give her some elf magic to get to the North Pole). We said she obviously didn't want to stay in our room as Daddy snores!

We've had loads of fun and the kids race out of bed every morning to find her!

This was our first time. We've done this so far-
Hiding in DS's pants, while waving out of the drawer.

Made gingerbread men and left out smarties for decoration.

Painted everyone's nose red.

Put a Santa hat on the dogs, and was found sleeping next to the spaniel (we did it just before the DCs woke up, and made sure he was sleeping, so no chewing!)

Holding onto some helium balloons, about five of them or something, and then everyone having to jump around trying to get them (we decided to let them get on with it, and then I let DD2 climb on my shoulders to get him as he was tied to the cord things).

In the hamster ball.

On the toliet in the doll's house thing.

Looking at a photo on the camera (we took it of the DCs, even DD1 who's 12 and hasn't been a believer since about 5, where we'd all put Christmas hats of them on while they were watching TV and didn't realise until about five minutes later ) and with popcorn sprinkled around him, and he was trying to hold one near his mouth. DD2 and DS (and even DD1) loved that!

Had a icing bag thing next to six cupcakes, one of them half iced, with purple icing in the bag. Five all for us, the other one we left for Elf (and DH and I shared).

These elves sound messy....

I'd never heard about this tradition before this thread. Am taking notes for next year.

We've had

Sitting on the window ledge "playing " a set of drums ( from her elmo toy )
Eating an orange and leaving the peel
Next to a pot of my opened face cream and with a spoldge of it on his nose
Sat on the Christmas tree " eating " one of the chocolates with the remants of it and the wrapper in his lap

I've got to do things fairly high up though as she'll have to touch Ot otherwise she won't be able to help herself

Some great ideas, we haven't done the can't touch rule as I thought it would be too difficult with young ones (though we do try to stop 7mo ds2 eating the elf... )

Ds1 liked yesterday's which was the elf in the shower having squirted shampoo/shower gel around and was then wrapped in a flannel as a towel.

All sounds great fun and one for the future. How do you explain why the elves can be so naughty?

PLEASE SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT THESE ELVES ARE