Our Elf on the Shelf first joined us for Christmas 2009 when I found him in Barnes and Noble on my first ever visit to New York, where he came all boxed up with the Elf story book. I took him home to Sascha and Sam, who loved the book, the concept, and most of all Alfie, as they named him, and he has been part of our family Christmas ritual ever since.
Alfie arrives each year on the day we put up the Christmas tree, and watches diligently each day for good and bad behaviour to report back to the North Pole each night while the kids sleep. He’s found many prime observation locations over the years, and a lot of bad behaviour has been immediately corrected with Stuart or I casually questioning ‘I wonder what Alfie would think of that?’.
As the kids have got older Alfie has started getting a little more mischievous himself, but in 2015 he took this to a whole new level and had a lot of fun coming up with surprises to greet Sascha and Sam with each morning when they woke up.
Here are a few of his 2015 highlights….
Right from the time he arrived it was clear this year was going to be a little different, as he rode in on a matched reindeer duo.
He’d also expanded his wardrobe significantly – who could blame him, he’s been wearing that same red suit since 2009!
Unsurprisingly after all those years watching Sam it seems Alfie has become a bit of a sports fan, sharing Sam’s enthusiasm for cricket and NFL. Oddly he didn’t seem to engage with the Hawks, maybe a bad experience with one of the real variety on one of his flights back to the North Pole was to blame?
Alfie mixed it up a bit himself in the behaviour stakes himself this year, asking the question of the season.
A couple of mornings saw Alfie occupying the naughty camp himself much to the kids surprise, not the least when he engaged in the high risk behaviour of stealing my Nutella!
It was a huge December for the little guy, and one that saw him pretty worn out by the time Christmas approached.
Boxing Day is always a little sad when the kids wake up and find Alfie’s headed back to the North Pole, this year with a little more luggage than the average elf (he really has become a true Reid/Giles family member!)
See you in 2016 Alfie and thanks for a great Christmas 2015.