A Little Christmas Magic

About a week ago, I told all of my Facebook friends how much of a pain in the butt the Elf on the Shelf is. And it is. Every night there is the pressure to move her to a new spot and to get creative. I'm not creative. I have to use Pinterest for my ideas. And I don't enjoy messes.

Well, I got a lesson this morning in why Elf on the Shelf is worth it. Yesterday, we took Turtle to see Santa Claus at the North Pole. She nervously stood next to Santa Claus - not close enough to touch him, but near him. He asked her what she wanted for Christmas, and she stammered out that she wanted to tell her Elf what she wanted:

Santa: What is your Elf's name?
Turtle: Dolphin
Santa: Okay, I'll talk to Dolphin when I see her tonight. But you know the elves are ornery this year. They are going to string toilet paper on Christmas trees and use flour and sugar to make snow angels on your kitchen table. Last year, some of them even made zip lines.
Turtle was smiling. She was smiling standing next to Santa, but still very nervous.

He continued chatting with her and then asked for a hug. She actually gave him a hug, which I didn't get a picture of - DRAT!

Well, last night at bedtime I sent Turtle upstairs ahead of me and stuffed Dolphin upside down in an apothecary jar full of M&M's and headed up behind her. It was the best I could do; I was really tired.

This morning, Turtle came down and headed for one of her Advent calendars - the one that holds Hershey's Kisses that her Nana made her. She really wanted that chocolate. Then we went in and read the Bible verse on the Advent calendar from when I was a child, then we stuck on her sticker to the third one. She plopped in her chair at the table and started eating her breakfast. Then I exclaimed, "Look at Dolphin. Oh my gosh, she is upside in the M&M's!"

Turtle leaped out of her chair and ran to the kitchen island to look. "Mommy, she ate some, the M&M's are lower than yesterday!"

That made it all worth it. She believed wholeheartedly that Dolphin ate the M&M's while she was in their face first. It's easy to forget the power of belief when you are in your 40's and just slogging through your days during the high pressure season of Christmas. Last year, she wasn't all that into the Elf or Santa, for that matter. It was hard to tell if she even believed that Santa brought her presents. The Elf seemed to amuse her, but that was about it. Now she is 4, almost 5 and she believes. She believes that the elf ate her M&M's. She believes that Santa will bring her presents. She believes that reindeer fly. There is magic at Christmas and sometimes it takes a 4-year old to remind us that is all around us. If I could remember to take a moment and breathe in the magic - pause in the laundry, pause in the gift buying, pause in the wrapping, pause in the list making, pause in the guest preparation and just exist in the moment with my magical little Turtle, I will remember what this season is all about.

Now Pinterest, help out this mama who lacks creativity. Although, thanks to Santa, I now have to tp the tree and spread sugar all over my counter top. Couldn't we be a bit more tidy about this elf thing?