The Return of Bells

A couple years ago, when my niece was four years old and her sister was only one year old, I decided to send them a Christmas gift a few weeks in advance. They did not know it came from me; however, they believed it was sent all the way from the North Pole from Santa Claus himself. This gift was an “Elf on the Shelf.” I will be the first to admit, I kind of thought these elves were a little terrifying…I would see pictures of them on social media fishing in the toilet for gold fish, hanging from ceiling fans or hiding out in the fridge eating leftovers. The social media posts were never ending! So, finally, I Googled, “What is an Elf on the Shelf?” I clicked on the “official” webpage and started reading. The story behind these little elves made me feel like a little kid who believed in Santa again.

For those of you, who don’t know about the Elf on the Shelf, let me fill you in. During the Christmas season, usually after Thanksgiving, special scout elves are sent from the North Pole to help Santa Claus keep track of the naughty and nice lists. When the scout elf arrives you must first give him/her a name. Once you have named your elf that is when they receive their Christmas magic. This magic helps the scout elf fly back to the North Pole each and every night to report to Santa Claus about the days adventures. Each morning the scout elf returns and hides in a different spot, and waits for the family to find them. Oh! And how could I forget? You must not touch the scout elf, because if you do, they could lose their magic. But don’t worry if you accidentally touch the elf just sprinkle a little cinnamon around the elf before you go to bed and it will help get them back to the North Pole where the doctors can check them out because in case you didn’t know, cinnamon is like vitamins for elves!

Now, back to my nieces’ scout elf, her name is Bells. This will be her third Christmas with the Whorton’s. She made her return from the North Pole this past Saturday. The day before, my sister, brother-in-law and my nieces’ went to pick out their Christmas tree and when they got home they set it up and decided to wait until Saturday to decorate. When the girls woke up Saturday morning who else did they find perched in their Christmas tree? It was Bells! The girls were thrilled that she had returned and spent the day decorating the tree around her because as I mentioned before, you can’t touch her or she might lose her magic.

Early into Sunday morning, my sister and brother-in-law awoke to a loud crash, they rushed down the stairs to find the Christmas tree on its side, water everywhere and ornaments shattered on the floor. They put the tree upright, cleaned up the water and ornaments and went back to bed. Sunday morning the girls asked what happened to the tree and my sister explained that it had fallen over in the middle of the night. Then, there she was, Bells, their imaginations began to come up with the best story as to why the tree fell over. You see, when Bells was trying to get back to the North Pole, she must have gotten stuck in the tree, and in her attempt to break free she knocked the whole thing over! My sister didn’t have the heart to tell them that maybe Daddy forgot to tighten all the screws around the tree and that’s why it fell over. But then again, maybe it was Bells? Maybe she has a little more Christmas magic than we thought?! We may never know…

Hope that everyone has a very magical holiday season!

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