Our “Elf on the Shelf,” Gatito (name explained here), re-emerged over the weekend after 11 months in a drawer at my office at the North Pole with Santa, and has begun his daily Christmas-season routine of observing the girls, flying to north each night to give a naughty-or-nice report to the Big Guy (little Orwellian surveillance tool that he is), then returning by morning in a new “hiding” spot.
The big girls are thrilled. It’s almost like every morning is Christmas morning, they’re so excited to get up and find their elf. It’s the first thing Loyette says when she pokes me awake: “Daddy, can we go downstairs and look for Gatito?” Thus far, Loyette has been the first to spot him in the morning twice, Loyacita once.
In a new twist this year, Gatito has his very own blog, and is also on Twitter at @ElfOnLoyShelf. So, you can follow his exploits throughout the Christmas season. 🙂
See also: Baby Rabies’ 2nd annual Inappropriate Elf Contest! Lots of LOLs, including:
Heh. More.
I’m glad the girls enjoy it, but that things is creepy looking.
I’m surprised you fell for this marketing ploy, Brendan.
(I know there are counterarguments about certain cherished traditions also being commercialized/marketing in their own time, but this Elf on the Shelf thing creeps me out.)
In my defense, it was Becky’s idea to buy the elf & book. I have some reservations too (though they’re mainly that this may lead to Loyette losing her belief in Santa Claus sooner, since the fantasy is harder to maintain over multiple weeks, and regarding an obvious inanimate object in front of their faces, than for one night a year regarding a mysterious jolly man they never see, except perhaps once at the mall). But I just figure, now that we have Gatito, we might as well go all-out. 🙂
Must be a woman thing … my wife also bought the elf (ours is Max) and book.
And there are worse marketing ploys, like Build-A-Bear.