Shortly after Thanksgiving, I was totally inspired by this post and decided that it would be really fun to have our own little elf this Christmas.
I loved the idea of giving the kids something to look forward each day. And looked forward to the excitement that it would create in our house. Our elf was named Milton, and signed his name in glitter with every note. He told the kids a little bit about himself and even drew a picture of him and santa together (because the cold weather broke his camera).
What I didn't expect, was the amount of work it would create, at an already busy time. I had assumed that I could write all of the notes ahead of time, and then simply lay them out each night. But it didn't work that way. The kids ended up leaving notes for Milton, and Milton responded each night.
In fact, one day, one of the toys broke and the kids thought it would be a great idea to give it to Milton and ask him to take it back to the workshop to get it fixed! (uhhhhh - really?) So, Milton took the toy, spent some considerable time in the workshop and brought it back all fixed, only to have it break again within minutes. So the kids left it with Milton again, who dug around the workshop and found something suitable to leave under the tree (wrapped in paper and of course, signed in glitter).
Needless say, I spent many nights up past everyone else, facilitating this fun little adventure of ours. And I have to say, at times I regretting starting the whole thing. I was so tired (do you know how long it takes glue and glitter to dry at midnight???). But on Christmas morning, Jordan gave me a little present, all hand made. A little book that she drew and had a picture of her holding the present from Milton, and at the top it said: "At Christmas everything is fun and ixsiting!" And at that moment, all of the late nights had totally been worth it.
Over those weeks, I saved everything Milton sent and the notes from the kids and the little christmas story, and have put them all in a special box to remind us of the fun we had this Christmas.
How it worked:
I started off with a letter from Milton, explaining that they had been very good, and so he was rewarding them by coming each night to give them something to do as they counted down the days until Christmas.
Then, I made a list of all the things that that we could do/make and then coordinated it with my calendar to make sure I could actually make Milton's demands happen.
Here's what I put on my list:
1. Make snowflakes and hang them in the windows (santa likes snow a lot)
2. Make cookies together and share them with a friend
3. Go to Starbucks for hot chocolate
4. Go look at Christmas lights
5. Read this Christmas message, snuggled up with your family
6. Go feed the white reindeer (we have some just up the hill from us)
7. Take a family picture for me to remember you by
8. Have dinner by candlelight (the kids LOVED this)
9. Find someone in need and give this money to them (they were given a $5 bill)
10. Family game night (Milton gave them the game of Life)
11. Snowman Poop (powdered donut holes) - Milton was on snowman duty the night before, picking up after all the snowmen, so he left us snowman poop because he heard people like to eat it!
12. Read the christmas story
13. Wrap your presents you lazy people
I loved the idea of giving the kids something to look forward each day. And looked forward to the excitement that it would create in our house. Our elf was named Milton, and signed his name in glitter with every note. He told the kids a little bit about himself and even drew a picture of him and santa together (because the cold weather broke his camera).
What I didn't expect, was the amount of work it would create, at an already busy time. I had assumed that I could write all of the notes ahead of time, and then simply lay them out each night. But it didn't work that way. The kids ended up leaving notes for Milton, and Milton responded each night.
In fact, one day, one of the toys broke and the kids thought it would be a great idea to give it to Milton and ask him to take it back to the workshop to get it fixed! (uhhhhh - really?) So, Milton took the toy, spent some considerable time in the workshop and brought it back all fixed, only to have it break again within minutes. So the kids left it with Milton again, who dug around the workshop and found something suitable to leave under the tree (wrapped in paper and of course, signed in glitter).
Needless say, I spent many nights up past everyone else, facilitating this fun little adventure of ours. And I have to say, at times I regretting starting the whole thing. I was so tired (do you know how long it takes glue and glitter to dry at midnight???). But on Christmas morning, Jordan gave me a little present, all hand made. A little book that she drew and had a picture of her holding the present from Milton, and at the top it said: "At Christmas everything is fun and ixsiting!" And at that moment, all of the late nights had totally been worth it.
Over those weeks, I saved everything Milton sent and the notes from the kids and the little christmas story, and have put them all in a special box to remind us of the fun we had this Christmas.
How it worked:
I started off with a letter from Milton, explaining that they had been very good, and so he was rewarding them by coming each night to give them something to do as they counted down the days until Christmas.
Then, I made a list of all the things that that we could do/make and then coordinated it with my calendar to make sure I could actually make Milton's demands happen.
Here's what I put on my list:
1. Make snowflakes and hang them in the windows (santa likes snow a lot)
2. Make cookies together and share them with a friend
3. Go to Starbucks for hot chocolate
4. Go look at Christmas lights
5. Read this Christmas message, snuggled up with your family
6. Go feed the white reindeer (we have some just up the hill from us)
7. Take a family picture for me to remember you by
8. Have dinner by candlelight (the kids LOVED this)
9. Find someone in need and give this money to them (they were given a $5 bill)
10. Family game night (Milton gave them the game of Life)
11. Snowman Poop (powdered donut holes) - Milton was on snowman duty the night before, picking up after all the snowmen, so he left us snowman poop because he heard people like to eat it!
12. Read the christmas story
13. Wrap your presents you lazy people
1 comments:
ADORABLE!! how fun this must have been! jealous i didn't think of something like this to do. :)
Post a Comment