For many the word Elf is a bad, bad word. The little bendable character that comes to life has given some of the younger children the frights while others delight on what this mischievous creature will come up with next. But the little Elf was not always mischievous - the story, a charming one - is about an elf who comes out to watch children in the month prior to Christmas and reports their behaviors to Santa Clause. The elf moves from time to site. He sometimes sits on the shelf, and he can move to the mantel or bookcase, or anywhere really so that he can watch the children. He moves when the children aren't looking, usually at night while they are asleep and they wake to see where he's disappeared to. It's kind of exciting for the children. You see the elf has magical powers but those powers disappear if a child is to touch it.

And then my youngest, about 4 at the time, had to dispel all that nonsense. Seriously, where was his imagination? His wonder? His sense of humor?! Bah... I, however, had fun moving it around. Suddenly our elf went from shelf to pantry, to tree... and then he started to get into all sorts of trouble. And my suspicious, non-believing 4 year old started to have fun with our elf's antics. My older two loved them as well. And well, this brought out the kid in me and I had such fun creating little scenes for our mischievous elf. Apparently I was not the only mother to do this. And suddenly, crazy elves were viral all over the place giving many mothers terrible cases or migraines, agita and serious panic attacks. And for this reason, the elf is often looked upon with disdain and disgust.  

But like mothers around the world do everyday, we put our children first. And despite our feelings towards the little creature in the red suit that comes out this time of year, our children have come to expect him to make his mischievous appearances. And we mustn't disappoint them. We must put our own feelings aside. And so, with that, I have a few ideas that will hopefully make this easier for you. Feel free to copy these ideas or adapt them and to pass them on to other panic-stricken mothers. And by all means, pour yourself a glass of wine, a bourbon, scotch, martini - whatever it takes to take the edge off!

Elf just loves toys. And if you have kids you have toys. For a while my youngest was really into Toy Story. His face lit up like a Christmas tree when Elf shook Woody's hand! As you can see the army guys have come out a few times. Other ideas for you:

• Set up a board game and have elf winning. Fun games could be Monopoly, Sorry, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Backgammon, Checkers, Othello and Scrabble - With Scrabble have Elf write out a little message. 
• Elf can play with Play-Doh, paints, crayons... He is very creative little guy!
• Stuffed animals and dolls make great playmates!

Something so simple as elf getting into the fridge. He got into our yogurt. But he could get into anything. Have fun with this. 

Oh I had SUCH fun with this one. We all have candles lying around. This was so easy to do. Some miniature marshmallows, a wooden skewer cut in half and a candle is all you need. I think I used our fireplace lighter to actually roast the marshmallows. I believe this time the elf "moved" at nighttime.

One night, after we'd had a party,  and after the guests had gone and the children had gone to bed Elf had gotten himself into a bit of trouble. I couldn't find a photo, but Elf had also managed to find the Excedrin bottle and left it open and on the counter! This may have been one of my best ;)

Elf isn't always easy to find... 

And sometimes he doesn't even try to hide!

And sometimes our elf likes to be really obvious! He really has a very good sense of humor!

And sometimes mom has a panic attack because she has forgotten to move Elf. As simple as this one was, it worked! We all have toilet paper, right? Anything can be toilet papered! 

One year he got tangled up while trying to decorate... Trees and elves are perfect together... And this is always a good idea for a last minute fix.

The next is my alltime favorite...

So fun, so silly and anyone can do this. This was a few years ago... This year I think I will do something similar with shaving cream! 

Need more ideas? Pinterest is THE place to go for inspiration. Heck, even if you don't have an elf, you will want to check some of these great ideas out... I know I will. I don't think I will be blogging about my elf's antics this year... Maybe I will do a big recap, but that's uncertain as of yet. I will absolutely be posting them on Instagram. You can follow me and our elf on Instagram if you aren't already!

I hope that some of these ideas have helped and inspired and have eased some of your fears and anxieties!