Santa, Spying and Some Major Sucking Up

I caught her reading to him the other day. She's become quite the little reader, our Sydney, and when she thought I wasn't looking or listening, I overheard her reading one of our coveted usually-in-a-box-in-the-attic Christmas books to him. And then another one. And another until she'd read through all of them. Then she started on her regular books, all of her old favorites. For a good hour she read non-stop and when I asked her why, she said she didn't want him to get bored.

And every morning, Sydney and Liam have a little race to see who can find him first. Because he's an early riser and she's a late and deep sleeper, Liam usually wins. He gets all excited and jumps up and down which makes me wonder whose kid he is since neither Ryan nor I are exactly the spring out of bed in a good mood sort. When Sydney finally emerges from her cozy little den of room on these frigid mornings (and yes, 36 degrees is frigid down here so no making fun of us winter wimps), Liam is proud to show Sydney where our little friend has been hiding.

Who is this friend, you ask? Could it be Evan, the little brother, who loves to be read to and loves to play hide and seek? Nope.

It's Sheldon.

Wait.....have I not mentioned Sheldon before?

(No, we didn't get a dog or a cat.) (Nor did we have another child and neglect to tell you about him.)

We got an elf. An Elf on the Shelf elf. Ryan and I named him Sheldon after our current favorite TV character. Every morning he appears somewhere in the house to keep an eye on all the little people in the house. At night, he magically flies to the North Pole to report behavior, both naughty and nice, flies back to our house and finds another spot on which to perch for another fun-filled day of spying.

The boys don't really understand why Sheldon appears in various spots throughout the house, but they sure do get a good giggle every morning when they see him hanging on the dining room chandelier or peeking out of a vase. Sydney, however, is taking Sheldon's assignment very seriously. Whenever she's on the cusp of, I don't know, being an attitude-filled six year old, all I have to say is, "I wonder if Sheldon is watching you....." It's amazing how quickly she straightens up. It's also amazing to see how much she sucks up to a stuffed elf. All of that reading she did for him? Totally sucking up.

So if you're looking for a holiday tradition to start with your kids, assuming you do the whole "Santa Thing", this one's a great one. He's a bit pricey ($30), but if you've got that kind of cash burning a hole in your pocket, or, if like me you find a coupon to use at a local toy store, he's totally worth it.