Meet Chippey

If you have not heard of the book Elf on the Shelf and have kids or grandchildren, get one!  They are so fun!  The main concept is that the elf reports to Santa each night when you are sleeping about how you've been.  He's good motivation, especially in the beginning.  :) 

Each morning Trenton would instantly ask about Chippey, our elf, and have to see him before doing anything else.  You couldn't find him.  He had to.  Our elf couldn't get into too much mischief this year.  He needed to stay in high places so that little hands did not touch him.  (They lose their magic.)  Most of the time, he was clearly out of reach.  One day, we put Chippey hanging out of the silo of his barn, and Trenton without thinking reached out and touched him ever so slightly.  Not really caring, we reminded him that you can't touch Chippey because he'll lose his magic.  The sadness appeared and you could tell Trenton was deeply upset.  His eyes swelled with tears (like I said, we told him nicely--he wasn't in trouble by all means!) and his lower lip stuck out.  He couldn't hold back his little cry.  He felt terrible that he had touched Chippey without even thinking and genuinely thought he'd made Chippey lose his magic.  Of course, we felt so bad and tried our hardest to reassure Trenton that Chippey was perfectly fine.  Luckily, he soon got over it.  Trenton such a sweet, sensitive boy, and he feels sad if he thinks he's hurt someone.  It really is a sincere quality he possesses. 

Chippey then remained in high locations through the downstairs.  If Chippey got out any of Trenton's toys to play with, you can bet it was something Trenton wanted to play with that day.  So without touching the elf, Mommy had to borrow the toy back and share it with Trenton to keep us from having a meltdown.  You'd then catch Trenton over talking to the elf saying, "Sorry Chippey, you can play with it later."  His conversation with him always cracked us up!  He told him good morning, good bye, good night....you name it....Chippey was one of us.  Trenton even invited him to his birthday party.  We will see if Santa allows Chippey to leave the North Pole and come to Trenton's Knight Birthday Party in January.  :)