12 MORE Ways to Save Your Butt When Your Elf on the Shelf Forgets to Move

December 4, 2014

My kids are older now, and I’ve overused most of my original list of “outs” for when Elfie Joe is still in the same place in the morning. Therefore, I’ve had to come up with some new excuses and explanations to give my kids when they ask why he hasn’t moved from yesterday’s spot.

1. Book Worm Excuse: Sorry, kids. Mommy fell asleep on the couch reading her book again. Elfie Joe couldn’t fly because I wasn’t in bed.

2. Frost Warning Excuse: I heard on the news last night that it dropped to -10 degrees last night! He would have frozen if he tried to fly without any extra layers (You can encourage your kids to make him some paper jackets for warmth if you use this one.)

3. Wind Warning Excuse: The winds were howling last night. He may have gotten blown back into the same spot without making it to the North Pole!

4. Stuck Elf Excuse: If the last spot was inside a cabinet, box, or other container, tell the kids he was stuck inside. You can even make a show of the effort it takes to un-stick the door or lid to his hiding spot as proof.

5. Too Full to Fly Excuse: Well THAT explains where all of the peppermint kisses (or red and green spice drops, or Christmas cookies) disappeared to last night! He ate them all and was too full to fly home!! (Bonus: covers up the fact that you and your spouse actually devoured the sweet treats after the kids went to bed.)

6. Report Card Excuse: He’s waiting to find out what you got on your Math test so he can report back to Santa with your grades.

7. Good Samaritan Elf Excuse: He’s waiting till you do a good deed for others so he can let Santa know you belong on the Nice list.

8. Electronics Excuse: You left your iPods on full volume last night, so the constant notification noises must have spooked him.

9. Lights On Excuse: You left the lights on again last night. He didn’t know it was night since it never got dark.

10. Time Change Excuse: You know how we turned our clocks back last month? They had a time change at the North Pole last night, which threw him off-schedule.

11. Aurora Borealis Excuse: The Northern Lights were way too active last night, making it unsafe to fly to the North Pole.

12. More Toys Excuse: So, while this one isn’t a true excuse for forgetting, it IS a great way to reuse the same spot for as many days in a row as you need, while also getting the kids to get rid of some stuff. I admit, our elf placement in our house is not the most creative. We have about 20 days of boring where he sits on a shelf, ledge, or table top, which leaves about 5 days where we actually put some effort into where he perches. My new favorite idea was stolen from a friend’s elf, Sammy, who left her kids a letter saying the kids needed to choose some toys to donate to children in need. Her kids gathered a toy or two each and brought them to where Sammy was sitting that day. The next day, he was in the same place with another note: “More Toys.” Pure genius!!