Our Elf on the Shelf is boring and that's ok!

Meet Tommy Teal, our Elf on the Shelf.  He first visited our house last November 26th.  Tommy isn't as crazy as some elves you see out there.  He's actually quite boring.  That's ok and I'll tell you why!

Yes, I do admit that I get a bit jealous of some of the ideas people come up with for their Elf on the Shelf.  I've seen some cute ones, some mischievous ones, and some just plain wrong ones.  However, not everyone is that creative nor do they have time to make those little scenes.  If you are anything like me, you have to set an alarm to even remember to move your elf each night!

Plus, I thought the point of the Elf on the Shelf was to help your kids be good during the holiday season.  Your elf is suppose to sit somewhere in your house all day and watch your childrens' behavior.  Each night he goes back to the North Pole and reports to Santa how they have been.  This is where I have an issue with some of the ideas I've seen and why I think our boring Tommy is just fine.

1)  If your elf is misbehaving why should your kids be good?  After all, isn't he the one who's suppose to make sure your children are on their best behavior?

2)  You are not suppose to touch your elf.  If you do, he'll lose his magic and ability to fly back to the North Pole each night.  If your elf is fishing in your toilet or making snow angels out of flour on your counters, are you really going to leave him like that all day? 

3)  Again, the whole point of the Elf on the Shelf is to watch your kids.  He can't be watching your children if he's being held hostage or hanging out in the freezer because it reminds him of home.

My girls (ages 4 & 6) have fun just finding Tommy every morning.  First one to find him gets bragging rights for the day.  They even have fun tattling on each other to him (and now they don't bug me--bonus!).  They don't care that he just sits there all day without a pretty scene around him.  Don't get me wrong, some day I might come up with something a little more fun for our elf to do than hanging from the chandelier but for now, I'm sticking with the original idea of the Elf on the SHELF.

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf?  What do you do with him?