Elf on Shelf Ideas for Lackluster Parents

Are you one of those crazy parents who has brought the Elf on the Shelf into your Christmas celebration?

If you haven't heard of this tradition, it has its own website. And, elves are now available in both English and Spanish. Last year, the company reported $10 million in sales and landed No. 1,322 on Inc. 5000's 2011 list.

So here's the short version...

Santa can't be everywhere trying to determine who is on the naughty list and who is on the nice list. So these scout elves, brought home by willing parents and named by children, report back each night to the North Pole about the day's events and the behavior of the child or children in the household. And when the elf returns, it's usually not in the same spot where the family last saw him. In fact, the elf can be pretty good at hide-and-seek or in creating a little mischief, if he's allowed.

Trane the elf, arrived two years ago, at the Smith household packaged in brightly-colored wrappings from the North Pole. He was dropped off at the back door just in time for a 4-year-old to arrive back home from preschool.

But Trane didn't have his magic until he had a name and the book, "The Elf on the Shelf," was read.

The book gives the rules for bringing such a tradition into your home — two biggest being 1. Your child can't touch him or he'll lose his magic. 2. On Christmas Eve, the elf returns to Santa.

So in two years, Trane has had marshmellow fights with other stuffed animals, hung from ceiling fans, taken a ride on a T-Rex, peeked out of bookcases, brought small gifts, left notes and traveled to Ohio to visit Grandma.

But it's not all fun and games. He leaves the occasional lump of coal and at times a note of warning from the "big man in red."

It's all fun and games for the parents and children alike, until the moment you realize your child is out of bed and you didn't move the elf!

But are you running out of ideas for this crazy elf?

Check out Blossom Bunkhouse, which has at least 101 ideas from turning milk a different color to mismatched school clothes for the kids.

Fun ideas, 25 total, can be found on Living Locurto. You'll find ideas for clever messages to leave on the bathroom mirror or creating a crepe paper door to their room.

There's more to be found on Pinterest.

Oh, and if you're curious there are some parents, moms in particular, who have way too much time on their hands! Minus the language, this blog post pretty much sums up life after a week with the elf at most houses.