Why The Elf on a Shelf is Both Good and Bad

I'm all about keeping the spirit of Christmas alive in my home, but these elves sitting on their shelf might be keeping secrets.

For months we've been asking my kids what they want for Christmas, what they want Santa to leave for them, and we've been in pretty good shape, until this morning that is. Here we are thinking that we had all the big gifts the kids wanted and then they dropped a little bit of information on us that caught us off guard.

While talking to my oldest daughter, she decided to let us in on a little secret we were unaware of, that there was apparently a gift that both my daughters wanted really bad but they hadn't told us about it, rather they whispered it to the elves since they report back to Santa every night, so they could tell him.

Now this gift wasn't just some random toy, it happens to be the most popular American Girl doll this year, and it's in very high demand, and it's not cheap. Luckily my wife was able to get online and order the dolls and they should be here in plenty of time for Christmas.

It's great that my daughters are exploding with Christmas spirit, and that they trust the elves to tell Santa the gifts they want, but it would've been very interesting Christmas morning if those dolls weren't there. My kids would probably lose all faith in the elves or worse Santa., and we don't want that.

It may sound silly, but I want my kids to believe in Santa as long as they want. I want them to maintain their innocence and enjoy the fun before entering the real world.