The Elf on the Shelf is Named Nino

Last week my mother-in-law came over with a book for my kids. The book is called “The Elf on the Shelf”. Apparently this book was a big deal with my wife because she was all excited. I didn’t understand the hoopla and apparently this book is hard to get this time of year. So I sat down with my kids to listen to Uncle Mike read the story.

In a nutshell, the book tells the story of a magical elf that Santa allows to stay in your house. The kids are allowed to name it (ours is Nino) and then it has to be placed somewhere by an adult and adult only. This magical elf just sits there watching the kids every move during the day. At night when everyone is asleep, the elf flies back to Santa and gives him a report on how the kids behaved. The elf then returns to the

Nino wound up in our table top tree today

home, sets up shop in a different location and begins his day time vigil all over again. The story tells the kids that the magical elf is not to be touched by anyone, including parents as this will destroy the elf’s magical ability (smart way to go about it).

Side note: The elf is not real, it cannot fly, it does not report back to Santa and before we go to bed, Carrie moves the elf to its new location.  I just don’t want to get any of your hopes up, so I wanted to just clarify the facts because I almost believed the hype myself. I thought this was genius. I understand that this is not a new concept but to me it was because I never heard of it. I was so damn excited because I really thought to myself that this would give us a break from the normal craziness of our lovable children.

The kids were so excited they made Uncle Chris read the book to them as well. After that, they each took turns looking at the book and we then placed Nino on the one piece of furniture in our dining room, the out of place bookshelf. There he sat with a dopey look on his face, watching my kids and they were certainly on their best behavior. I was so happy and I thought that this may actually work. Nicky was outstanding and kept saying to Jordan and Corey “Nino is watching”. It was great! Corey didn’t get it, as he is only 3 years old but every time he acted up both Jordan and Nicky would say “Nino is watching”. Wondeful! The kids all went to bed without a hitch and the next morning they were all ecstatic about finding where Nino settled for the day. They found him hanging on a curtain rod.  I was really impressed with the results. It was amazing.

After a few days of great behavior, Saturday we began to see some of Jordan’s typical behavior.  Carrie and I would just remind her that The Elf on the Shelf, Nino, is watching and she would immediately snap out of it. Now she isn’t a bad kid by any means but she is stubborn, defiant and just plain old tough…..oh and bossy too. Anyway, while Jordan and Nicky were in the kitchen,

It's Christmas time so I threw this in..the kids decorated it tonight

things got quiet…..to quiet. I hear Jordan whisper “Nino can’t see me in here”.  That is when my hopes were smashed!  I knew that this Nino character wouldn’t mean anything to her and I was right! The last few days have been tough as Jordan pays no attention to the fact that Nino is somewhere in the house.  I told Jordan a story of a cousin of mine. When my cousin was a little girl, maybe 6 or so, she awoke on Christmas morning to find coal in her stocking. Apparently Santa didn’t think her behavior was worthy of receiving presents on Christmas so he filled her stocking with coal (true story…hahahaha my Aunt is a pisser….I know I know what a horrible thing to do to a young child but I still cannot help myself and I laugh whenever I hear that story. Just to calm you down, I will tell you that my cousin ran up the stairs to her room and threw the coal out of her window. When my Aunt and Uncle were able to get her out of her room, she went down stairs to a tree surrounded by lots of presents! So it did turn out to be a merry Christmas for her). Do you think this story had any effect on my daughter even after I reminded her that Nino tells Santa everyday how she behaved? Well let me answer that for you…..IT DIDN’T! Nino has certainly made a positive impact with Nicky and Corey so not all is lost. I just had so much hope that Nino would be my savior, the answer to my prayers. I am mildly disappointed.

I still think the concept is great! So if anyone gets this book, or already has it, please let me know how it works for you. Just don’t rub it in if it works that well for you.