Guest Post: Kyndall West

So the countdown to Christmas begins.  If you haven't heard me say it already, I LOVE this time of year!  It's chaotic and busy and exhausting, but I enjoy every crazy second of it.

Kyndall has been wanting to post on the blog for a while now, and she was so excited about her elf coming the other night that I gave in.

The following story is brought to you by Kyndall West, age 7.  (Disclaimer:  There was zero editing on her story, so ignore any spelling/punctuation/grammatical errors please!)

Messy the Elf is here!!!!  Me and Libby wrote letters to Santa and Messy.  We found him in the Christmas tree.  Messy wrote a letter to us.  It said stuff like our cards were to heavy.  This year, we were able to touch Messy because Santa put special powder on him that made him not lose his magic.  Last year, Messy rolled me and Libby's bathroom with toilet paper, and he made our milk GREEN!!!!!  This year, I want him to paint himself camo.  This is my story of my elf on the shelf!!!!!!!

Back to original posting.

I thought I should explain a little.  We have had our elf, Messy, for three years.  He comes to our house each year on December 1 and stays until Christmas Eve.  He watches over the girls and goes back to the North Pole every night to report to Santa on the girls' behavior.  When he returns from his travels, he tends to do mischievous things around our house (like rolling the bathroom and turning the milk green).

Since he is an 'Elf on the Shelf', the rule has been that you can't touch him.  If he is touched, he loses his magic.  This year, Santa gave Messy special powers so that the girls can hug and snuggle him.  So this year was the first time ever that they girls have been able to touch him.  As soon as Libby knew she could touch him, she picked that little elf up and kissed him smack on the face!  It was the sweetest thing ever!

I know there is a lot of controversy over the whole 'elf' thing, but I love having Messy at our house.  The girls are head over heels excited about him.  They DO behave better for the month of December when he is there.  I know you aren't supposed to bribe your kids, but if it works, go for it :)  There are definitely a few nights when Messy is lazy and decides not to move, but that's ok too.  He needs his rest like everyone else!

Do you have an elf?

What Christmas traditions to you have that you just LOVE?