When I was a little girl, about this time of the year I tried really, really hard to be a good little girl. Today we have "The Elf on the Shelf" performing, shopping, eating, etc etc...don't believe me, just check out facebook. But when I was a child, the elves were invisible, hovering outside the windows, peeking in and checking on me, having a look-see if I was being naughty or nice. Then they (the invisible elves) would race back to the North Pole to report in to Santa about my behavior for the day....only to return the next for more sightings. This was the perfect approach to encourage me to finish the lima beans on my dinner plate or that god-awful slimy canned asparagus. I just had to fall into the naughty category when it came to that asparagus. I tried this same method on my own children when they were small, but somehow the lima beans managed to slip under the chair cushions only to be found later, dried and hard. Which proves what?....either they felt like I did with the canned asparagus, and their taste buds couldn't tolerate the beans, or they thought the invisible elves were just a figment of their Mother's imagination. I prefer to think they just couldn't tolerate the beans...and fyi there was never canned asparagus in my home, some things just can't be permitted from one generation to the next.
Personally I don't know if I would have been threatened by "The Elf on the Shelf" for encouragement to remain good, but just mention those little invisible elves and down the hatch those lima beans would go.
How about you? Did elves hover outside your windows, checking to see if you were being naughty or nice? Or was the mere threat of "you better be good or Santa will leave coal in your stocking" enough to make you straighten up and be on your best behavior, at least for the month of December?
"Let's be naughty and save Santa the trip." ~ Gary Allen
Until next time.....
Deanna! watching? sounds rather creepy these days. watching the kids through the windows? hahaha. YES i was just like you. i had to eat brussel sprouts but luckily i like them now.
ReplyDeletewe never did 'santa' in our house, so the elf on the shelf was just a decoration. :)
ReplyDeleteAt our house it was "you better be good or Santa will put coal in your stocking". The one thing that never enters my house is canned pineapple. I have never liked it but I do like fresh pineapple.
ReplyDeleteI never over thought it - whether it was elves or the super powers of Santa himself, (or heaven forbid any hint from Mom or Dad who had enough ammunition from my wild behavior the rest of the year to quash any chance of gifts), I just tried to be the sweetest, most innocent, charming little girl regardless of who was looking. I suspect I failed horribly because my younger brother and I were tag-team ornery!
ReplyDeleteCute mug, fabulous nails (a/k/a I am so jealous!).
Deanna! hahaha, people magazine helps in my situations, huh? i didn't know til i saw her on Letterman about a month ago. good ol' pop culture.
ReplyDeleteI don't really remember the whole naughty or nice thing so much, but I do remember after losing my teeth to a dresser accident when I was 2 that at 7 (or)8 I was really wanting some new front teeth, I just didn't want that to be the ONLY thing I got for Christmas!! haha
ReplyDeleteLove the mug!.... xo Oh and P.S.- My hubby DID get coal in his stocking one year!! : )
For me it was, be nice to you sister or no Chanukah presents! I love some of my friends' "adult" elf on the shelf jaunts, though!
ReplyDeleteI'm tempted to put coal in my son-in-law's stocking sometimes ... Whoops! I digress! I do remember the song, You'd Better Watch Out, You'd better not cry, etc., but I don't remember elves and I don't remember being worried about being watched by something supernatural. I'm sure I was just a model child. :-D But I did hate pea soup. Still do.
ReplyDeleteI wish, wish, wish I'd been more naughty! I'm trying to make up for it in my old age.
ReplyDeleteThe threat that Santa wouldn't come at all was all it took to make me behave! Thankfully my mom never served liver & onions during the Christmas season or a very NAUGHTY girl would I have become!
ReplyDeleteI was a pretty good kid, so my mother -- who kept a tight watch -- didn't really need an elf on the shelf. I rally laugh at bad elf on the shelf.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Love your header!
No elves in my childhood only that if I wasn't a nice child there would be no presents. I love the mug, so cute.
ReplyDelete