Eiley asked me for our Elf on the Shelf today. About the hundredth time she asked I finally gave in. I tried to insist that I didn't know where the elf was, but she was sure it was in the basement with the Christmas stuff. I purposely pack her away in the basement, not with the Christmas stuff. That way we would never accidentally get her out in front of them. It didn't take long after getting the elf out before Eiley started putting things together in her mind. She wanted to know if Cork and I are the ones who move the elf. I danced around the question by turning it around and asking her what she thought. This worked in the past for Santa and the Easter Bunny. This time she was sure that it was us and not magic or Santa moving the elf. Arya was right there with Eiley wanting to hear my answers. I then explained that they couldn't ruin it for other kids at school or for Zia. I also finally got out the elf book that talks about the kids not being able to touch the elf and the elf reporting back to Santa. They told me they liked that they can touch our elf. I'm not sure they fully understood the behaviors being reported to Santa since we have never hyped Santa too much.