The Elf on the Shelf

POD will be three on 25th December so she’s old enough now to remember her birthday and the festive period. With this in mind, we had a Christmas themed treasure hunt at the weekend and she met the Doves’ Elf on the Shelf.

We thought it would be nice for POD if she named him. This is quite dangerous given she has dollies called Boadicea, Bob and Rice as well as the aptly named “dolly”, “elephant” and “monkey”.

Initially she decided on “Elf” but having understood “Elf the Elf” wasn’t a name, he became “Ben Elf”. Given she’s a fan of Ben and Holly, we encouraged her to think of another name. Ben Elf then became Jake Elf which was an improvement but Jake Elf quickly became Ben Elf again.

So we will be registering him as Ben Elf.

POD loved the Elf on the Shelf book and its been read several times over. She likes that he has been sent from the North Pole and helps Father Christmas. When she was told he flies back each evening to report on what she’s been doing, her response was “no he doesn’t”.

She enjoys looking for him but mostly believes we put him there rather than he arrived of his own accord.

In an attempt to create a bit of magic, we took Ben Elf away with us at the weekend. Although she was pleasantly surprised he’d joined us, I’m sure she thought we’d just put him in our bag.

We had to work quite hard while we were there to ensure Ben sprung up in the most unlikely of places.

Ben Elf must be spluttering to the North Pole each evening as POD likes to cuddle him. She’s also tried bending his legs backwards and seeing if he can do the splits.

She also likes to turn his head all the way round like an owl. This she finds highly entertaining as she’s tried to do it to me a few times.

Ben Elf may have been touched and moved around which is against the rules but he does have a name at least. Apart from the time he was thrown across the floor, he’s been well loved too. We just need to work on less mauling and encourage POD to believe in magic.

We’re linking this Elf on the Shelf post up with Jocelyn at The Reading Residence. If you’d like to join in with #ElfTakeover, click on the badge below.