For the past three years I have always looked forward to the day after Thanksgiving. Not for the “Black Friday” sales, but for our own Christmas traditions. I usually break out the Christmas decorations, watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and re-introduce the boys to The Elf on The Shelf by Carol V. Aebersold and Chanda A. Bell . We named our Elf friend “Sam.” I usually have Sam arrive in a package from the North Pole, but this year he was hanging on our front door. My oldest son was so excited that he arrived. I reveled in the joy all over his face. And then out of no where my 4 year-old crushed my merriment with, “That’s a decoration, nothing is magic.” I was completely bewildered. How could this be? My sweet little boy doesn’t believe in magic? Talk about heartbreak. How do you convince a little boy that he should believe, when you, yourself know the truth of it all? What’s a mom to do? Luckily Logan took over, even though his efforts weren’t received well and were quickly dismissed he kept trying throughout the day.

The next morning when Sam found a new spot in our house I saw wonderment in Deacon’s eyes. There it was, right there…he believed. I asked him what he thought over breakfast…we were in luck, my baby believes in the magic. So Sam has been flying around our house for the past few days, helping to keep the boys in check. I find it rather comical that by the end they’re not too sure how much they love Sam…he can sometimes put a damper on their ways.