THE MARINI FAMILY

WELCOME TO THE CRAZINESS OF OUR LIFE WITH TWO BOYS!

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Olaf...The "Elf"

So, this year we joined the millions of people who have an Elf on the Shelf.  If you an unfamiliar with the Elf, he is a fixture that lives in your house the month prior to Christmas and he listens to everything that takes place in the house...good or bad.  I thought we had successfully bypassed the owning of an Elf because they have been around for years and our kids had never really asked about them. This year, that all came to a screeching halt.  In Target of all places, on night when Ryan was in rare form, he worked an argument so masterfully that we caved.  Well...kinda.

Flash back to a couple of weeks ago when we were in Target shopping.  We come upon a huge display of Elf on the Shelf's.  Ryan grabs one and turns to us and says...

Ryan:  Mom, Dad....we NEED an Elf on the Shelf.  He lives in our house, reports back to Santa every night and tells him if we have been good or bad.  We NEED him!

Mom:  We don't need him.  Honey, remember, Santa is always watching, so we don't need to buy an elf to come live in our house.  And we especially don't need to buy him at the price of $30.00.

Ryan:  But Mom, you say Santa is always watching and always listening, but he is not.  There are millions of kids all over the world and he can't hear us all at once!  And remember that one day you told me to go and wash my hands, and I did, and when I came out from the bathroom you didn't believe me that I did it and I told you to call Santa!  And when you did, you said Santa was busy at that moment and didn't see me wash them?  See!!!  He isn't always watching and that is why we need the Elf.

Mom and Dad:  (Staring at each other in disbelief)

Mom:  Well, we will think about it.  But Ryan, we are not paying $30.00 dollars for the Elf.  I think they had some at Costco that are cheaper, we will look there.

The next day I sent my sister to Costco to see if they still had some and they did.  The ONLY TINY LITTLE PROBLEM was that the ones at Costco were a different type of Elf, not the regular ones that are everywhere.  But, they weren't $30.00, so they were already our favorite. 

That night the boys were staying at Nana and Papa's house and so Rich and I went to get the Elf.  We brought it home and took a picture to send to the boys so they can see what we bought.  Immediately after the picture must have been shown to Ryan, our phone rang.  It was Ryan.

Ryan:  You got the wrong one.  That's not the real Elf on the Shelf.  That's the plush one, that one isn't right. 

Mom: Ryan, this one is fine.  He will still report to Santa, he works fine and this is what we are getting.

Ryan:  No, Mom!  That's not the right one.  He doesn't look like any of the other Elf's.  He is not real.

Mom:  Ryan, Costco wouldn't sell fake Elf on the Shelf's.  There is no way they would sell a fake elf that doesn't work.  You know how Santa has helpers because he is so busy, Elf on the Shelf's have helpers because they are so busy.  He is real.  Promise.

Ryan:  Can you go up and ask a Costco manager if that is the real Elf?  Ask the manager if he flies back to the North Pole and does all the other stuff the regular elf does.

Mom: Ryan, we are at home.  I will not be asking the Costco manager anything.  This is the elf we bought.  You either take this one, or we will return it back to the store.  But we will not be buying the other elf.  It is your choice.  If you want to keep him, he will need a name.  Let us know.

Five minutes later, a text from Ryan and Matt comes through...

Ryan and Matt:  We want to name him Olaf.


Olaf's first night on watch.

The next night, he left a note for the boys.




He will be busy over the next week or so making sure Santa sees and hears everything that happens in our house!  Good thing Mommy and Daddy didn't ask Santa for anything this year...Olaf would have some explaining to do.