christmas traditions

Soon I’ll take the crèche out of the back of my closet and arrange it on my bookcase. Someday I hope to pass down the responsibility to my niece.

It’s that special time of the year when the days get shorter, holiday lights come out, and a doll/informant visits some houses to spy on children. Sure, The Elf on a Shelf may have seemed like a fun tradition when you first got it, but then you realized how much work it is. As a parent, you’ve already got plenty of other things to do around the holidays, like figuring out how to survive family holiday meals. And even if you are into the Elf, your kids will eventually outgrow it. 

But once you no longer want it, how can you remove the creepy little magical creature from your house? Here are some ideas:

1. Leave it in your kid’s room, but don’t bother moving it every night.

Just keep saying: “Yes, it’s still watching you.”

I think about the unseen Christmas treasures hidden in my holiday to-do list, in the boxes of ornaments and in the cupboard filled with décor.

It was a tradition of theirs. When siblings Sue and Johnny went home to their mother’s for Christmas, they watched the 11 o’clock local news.