So Hard To Say Goodbye...


Our Elf on the Shelf, Flyie, has been visiting our home for the month of December for the past three years. The first year Kalvin seemed to almost be afraid of the little fellow. Kalvin would stare at Flyie and voice his concern that the he would fly into his room. The following year Kalvin really warmed up to the little guy and he quickly became part of the family. That same year, as December 25th approached Kalvin began expressing his sorrow at the thought of Flyie leaving us for another year, but he didn’t protest too much once Flyie flew back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. This year Kalvin began telling us about mid month how "SAAADDD" he was that Flyie would have to leave soon. Goodbyes have always been hard for Kalvin. When we have friends come stay with us, he almost always cries when they leave-even when they are adult friends. He just doesn’t like change and like most of us, “goodbyes” are hard to say. I have to admit though, the elf thing is throwing me a bit. Meaning Kalvin doesn’t pay that much attention to the little guy. He faithfully searches for him in the morning, but I haven't noticed him paying attention to him at any other time of the day. But the continuous tears and sadness this year have me wondering how Flyie’s departure is going to go over.

Then a friend of mine sent me this photo.


And it gave me an idea.

I thought maybe a book of pictures of Flyie in his various hiding spots would be fun for him to leave behind for Kalvin. We started snapping pictures of Flyie in his various hiding spots around the house…and then the creative juices began to really flow. I think I have been working in the finance industry too long because I was having way too much fun with a little creativity and this elf.



A friend sent me this picture of their elf. And we laughed and laughed with each other over our elves and how much fun we were having with this "project"...clearly the stress of the holidays was getting to us!



Kalvin continued to perseverate over Flyie leaving. He wrote Flyie a letter that was just too cute and sad all at the same time-it said "Flyie you are a good friend. Love, Kalvin, Dad, Mom and Finn"

Even after Flyie left cards and matching monogrammed pj's (thank you Grandma) for Kalvin and Finn on their beds Christmas Eve, the moaning and whining all over Flyie's departure continued. We were beginning to think Flyie may ruin Christmas!
Then my husband had this fabulous suggestion that Kalvin write a letter to Santa asking if Flyie could stay through the new year. This seemed to relax Kalvin. I got right to work on +Shutterfly creating the book and decided to title it:
The Fun I Had While You Were Sleeping
and have Flyie leave it behind when he flew to the North Pole on New Years Day! The book was a huge hit! Kalvin just loves it and doesn't even seem upset that Flyie is gone. The only problem...Kal is examining the pictures and asking LOTS of questions that I wasn't really prepared to answer, but at least 2013 started off with lots of smiles and giggles as we look over all the adventures Flyie had around our house!










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