Elf on the Shelf

Over the last few years I have seen lots of posts about parents playing "Elf on the Shelf" with their young kids. There is a book that comes with am elf doll and the book talks of all the mischievous fun the elf gets into while it's family is sleeping. Parents then take the ($30!!!) elf doll and set it up in poses that make it seem as if the elf was doing silly things on the night.

If I had heard if this ten years ago, I'd have been all over it, making elf do cute things for my dotter to giggle over. But I didn't hear if it ten years ago and 16 is too old for playing with a toy elf. Playing with a Jean-Luc Picard active figure however, is another thing entirely.

Dotter rolled her eyes at the idea, but I think she secretly likes seeing what sort of odd shenanigans the Starship Captain is getting into. So far, he has ridden the dog through the house, zip lined through the kitchen, gotten locked out on the patio and recreated a kill scene from "Dexter". My favorite was the kill scene. A Hellboy action figure was wrapped in plastic wrap and Jean-Luc stood above him with a knife in his hands. Twisted? Maybe, but dotter and husband thought it was amusing.

Even though I'm having a blast thinking of silly and sometimes twisted things for Jean-Luc to do, it's really about our family coming together and laughing. It's about dotter knowing that being grown up doesn't mean that you stop having fun or being silly.