‘TIS THE SEASON

Do you have a tradition in your home that starts off the holiday season? Are traditions meant to evolve and grow with your family, or are they meant to always stay the same?

When I was a single mom the ‘Elf on the Shelf‘ was the new ‘thing’. If you’re not familiar with this, the basic idea is an elf comes to keep eyes on your kids, and reports their behaviour back to Santa. The Elf is not meant to be touched or moved by them but shows up each day in some new location to be discovered.

Once Mike and his girls came along, we continued the Elf tradition. Of course the question came up “How come we don’t have an Elf at our mom’s house”.

My girls never asked why their dad didn’t have an Elf. He just didn’t. The Elf (Sparkle) came to mom’s house and that’s just the way it worked. But Mike’s girls were a little older when the Elf came into their lives. If Sparkle was really essential then why didn’t she follow them to their mom’s house? Seemed like a logical

question to me. This was when I realized traditions would be different between homes, and that’s ok. We just needed to explain to the girls so they understood that it was ok too.

There’s a story book that comes with the Elf when you first buy it. It says “At holiday time Santa sends me to you.” Somehow I translated this into December 1st. So starting December 1st every year, Sparkle has made an appearance. Well…except that one year I couldn’t find Sparkle.

Off to the store I went for a SECOND ELF?!?!?!!! The kids were told Sparkle sent a ‘trainee’ named Tinsel ahead instead of her. When I finally did find Sparkle, we now had 2 Elves to hide/move/put somewhere awkward. So first we had Sparkle, the good Elf. And then along came Tinsel, the terror Elf. No surprise it was my husbands idea to create some mischief with the second Elf.

This is the 9th year Sparkle will be making an appearance and perhaps the 4th for Tinsel but there’s a twist this year. Now that the girls know about Santa, they’ve asked if they can help hide the Elves. And so our tradition evolves.

I used to think traditions needed to stay the same. That if they evolved they would no longer be traditions. What I have grown to realize is traditions will always evolve if you and those around you are growing and evolving. Our kids are shaping their own ideas of what holidays, and special events look like for them. What they want to see in their future. Their ideas are shaped by their experiences and as they live they will bring new ideas into the mix. I don’t want to be the kind of mom that doesn’t allow for change and growth. I want to embrace my children’s creativity and excitement.

I’ve got to say I’m happy with the development of this tradition. If the kids are going to help hide the elves this year then that will cut down on the number of times in a month I pull one of these at 5am “OMG, I forgot to move the elves.” Panic no parent needs during the holidays.

What are your favourite holiday traditions? We’d love to know if you have an Elf on the Shelf (or two) as well!

Shannon, The Herdmother