Where’s Jeff?
This is a question I hear/read more often than I thought I might. For something, pardon, someONE who came onto the scene as a bit of a gag, Jeff certainly took on a life of his own. Since his arrival on the holiday scene, he has faithfully performed his duties as both a Halloween decoration and an Elf on the Shelf, seamlessly transitioning from horror to happiness (though, if you ask my Moon, horror is still a big part of the Elf thing).
He has moved to new destinations with the family, sometimes traveling in unconventional ways…
And, is always ready to lend a hand when needed.
In other words, he may have started as a mother’s way of protesting the Elf on the Shelf trend, but he quickly became a part of the family. The Story of Jeff
So, you can imagine my disappointment when he was banished to the moving truck for our last move.
“He’ll be fine,” I was told. “He’s being packed by professionals.” Though, I believe the exact wording was it was “it will be fine. It is being packed…”
And, you will no doubt understand my chagrin at discovering that, though he did make it to our new destination, Jeff was now half the skeleton he used to be … at any given time, though both are usually at least in the same vicinity most of the time (don’t worry, explanations will follow).
Not only had they snapped him right in half, but he was hidden behind two separate stacks of boxes when I happened upon him. And, here is where I had to apply some of my own moving advice from my “On the Move” series (Learning on the Move, On the Move. In the Move, On the Move. In the Move 2, On the Move. In the Move 3). Something about not sweating the little things and things just being things…
But this is Jeff we are talking about! He has been elf-on-the-shelfing for our family for at least six years now! Never mind the years of Halloweening before that! I screamed in my head.
Ok, let’s frame it a different way. Sometimes, when things do not exactly go as planned, we can come up with a new plan. Sometimes we can turn things upside down and come out ahead.
For example, when I was in elementary school, I spent hours building a kite with my father. I was going to enter it into the school contest and I was going to win a prize! I still remember quite vividly the finished product of our labor: a beautifully graceful owl kite made of tissue paper and balsa wood. I also remember (just as vividly) releasing it into the stiff New England ocean “breeze,” which promptly shredded it into a million little pieces of graceful owl kite.
To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I was devastated. But … guess what? I did end up winning a prize! If I recall correctly, it was “most destroyed kite,” or something to that effect. But, I had my prize. Lemons to lemonade, right?
When I found Jeff … one half at a time … my immediate thought was skeleton surgery. I was already prepping for the procedure when it hit me.
What is more impressive than one Halloween skeleton on the house?
And after a successful spooky Halloween, how could both halves of Jeff be equally festive and elfish until I had the time and the means to perform skeleton surgery?
LM thinks we should leave him this way. Twice the fun!
There’s a part of me that wants to do the surgery ASAP. But, there’s another, more devious part that wants to wait and have a little fun with My Moon over Thanksgiving break first…
I guess you’ll just have to wait and see which part gets the upper hand…
Oh, and in case you didn’t notice … Jeff has also made a new friend, thanks to a kindred soul who had a booth at the local craft fair.
We are open to suggestions on a name…
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