My son is too old for Elf on the Shelf pranks, but I do it every year anyway. I think I have more fun with it than he does.

I've been doing the Elf on the Shelf pranks for my son for years, and he's always known it's me. I don't even use the trademark Elf - I have a little gnome that works just as well. I enjoy it more than he does, though he gets a laugh out of my pranks, too. The first Christmas I tried the Elf on the Shelf trend, my son was already 6. It was during the pandemic, and I thought it might cheer us both up. I had a friend who was doing it with her kids, and it seemed like a lot of fun. I didn't think it was necessary to buy the trademark Elf. I had a little gnome that we used as a Christmas decoration , and decided to use that as our Elf. My son has always known it's me For the first prank, I wrapped my son's shoes in plastic wrap - or rather, the Elf did. When my son woke up the next morning, he was confused, to put it mildly. For the first few Elf pranks , I tried to keep up the illusion that the Elf was the one responsible. But my son figured out pretty quickly that it was me, all along. I kept doing something different each night anyway, and my son just thought it was funny. It was exciting for him to wake up and see what I had done. I unexpectedly connected to others through the tradition I started sending pictures of the pranks to my friends when I thought they were especially funny, but I really loved sharing ideas with the friend who had introduced me to the Elf on the Shelf. It gave us something extra to bond over. The Elf extended beyond something I was just doing to make my son laugh, and helped me connect more with friends , too. I still love saving ideas on Pinterest and seeing what other parents are doing on social media during December. In this way, I feel that it helps me feel connected to others on a deeper level. I think the tradition has caught on not just because it makes our kids laugh, but it's a way for parents to be kids again themselves. It gave me a reason to laugh and an excuse to be playful I honestly couldn't believe how much I laughed setting up some of the Elf surprises. I felt a little embarrassed laughing that much all by myself after my son had fallen asleep. Adults are rarely allowed to just be silly, and sometimes I struggle to do things for fun. After that first year trying it out, my son and I each found the whole Elf on the Shelf thing to be hilarious. The following year, he asked me if I was going to trick him again with the Elf, and I was so happy he did because I loved planning out all of those Elf tricks. For the 24 days...

Preview: ~500 words