Grand-children at Christmas bring new meaning… to a lot of things.
I remember playing the “Naughty or Nice” card with my son to control behavior around Christmas. It never seemed to work more than about two weeks out. I think that is when the pressure begins for a kid.
Recently, on the day after Thanksgiving, my four year old grandson Jack gave me the finger to the lips signal and pointed upward. It took me a couple of seconds to figure out what he was being so secretive about. And then, I saw it… There, lurking on the shelf, was the dreaded “ELF-ON-THE-SHELF”! I had heard about him, but before Thanksgiving, knowing the “Elf-on-the-shelf” was on his way apparently didn’t seem to be much of a threat.
That all changed the day after Thanksgiving… Each morning Jack would come downstairs and warily look around until he located his nemesis. Apparently, that pesky elf was a tricky little fellow and could appear almost anywhere. Jack never made a move until he had located him. You never could be too careful when it came to the Elf-on-the-shelf.
Jack is a pretty sharp little guy and has already figured out that the elf stays in the same place all day. I’m guessing it’s just a matter of time before Jack figures out the elf doesn’t move his head, his eyes fixed in one direction. Once he notices that, his little sister is in trouble… There’s only so much self-control possible in a four year old!
The cartoon idea came one day when I was thinking about Jack and his attempts to outwit the Elf-on-the-shelf. Jack is a thinker and usually plans before he goes into action. I tried to portray one of the options Jack might decide on… I changed the name to protect the identity of the perpetrator. You never can be too careful, you know. I caught that elf looking at ME the other day! I need to teach Jack about Duct Tape…
