I heard about the damn elf a few years ago from BE (who just launched his blog BE a Little Weird) who bought it for his kids. I asked my mom about it and she said she had one for us. I remember the elf but not the whole he reports to Santa shenanigans. I was still not convinced to do it especially with how much that sucker cost.
I did end up doing it, accidentally, last year. Goofy and I went to visit Santa sans baby and he bought her an elf for $1.99. Baby was scared to death of it so I started hiding it around the house for fun. As it happens, that was also the year the kids saw the cartoon on TV. We were now one of those families that had an elf on the shelf to report back to Santa.
I must admit, it was fun at first. In fact, it went a lot like MyGotFam's The Evolution of ‘Elf on the Shelf’ during the Holiday Season. I started out finding clever ways to hide him but by the end I just did not care. It is not like inspiration was not all over pinterest like Heather's (My Husband Ate All My Ice Cream) Oh, Christmas Tree board.
In the end, I forgot to pack him away with the other decorations and he was discovered by my son, who believed he was left behind and blamed me for the tragedy. He never did consider it was all Santa's fault for leaving an elf behind, it just had to be my fault.
I tried to hide it from the kids after the fact, with the intention of returning it to the basement with the Christmas decorations but I'd forget and than the kids would find it. Chippy was found when the kids were hunting for Easter eggs and he hung out with us at the beach. This elf was every where all year except at Christmas time. In fact, he was forgotten until Goofy's annual Christmas cookie party a week before the big day, when Chippy died.
Not sure the cause of death but my son decided he went North, literally, and in his true dramatic fashion, got all of his guests to dig a hole and say a few words to Chippy, the dead elf on the shelf.
Chippy, you will be missed. If you got it - pour some {cocoa} out for Chippy.
