Upon decorating our Christmas tree, my son lamented, "I wish an elf would visit." That statement surprised me because I remember the Elf on the Shelf experience he had had when we visited family for Christmas a few years ago...he didn't like it. My sensitive little guy grew increasingly anxious about being bad. And then when Christmas had passed he exclaimed with relief, "I'm so glad that Elf is gone!"
Craving Holiday Magic
Clearly my child is craving a magical experience. One that comes with the ideas of fancy fantastical creatures that bring love and joy to our world. I thought about all the Alternatives to Elf on the Shelf that I have heard about but one thing keeps nagging at me. It is this:
kindness and generosity are aspirations worthy of year-round attention.
That is when it occurred to me to create a new tradition. By creating my own elves I could do two things: use them to solve a problem and teach the Elf on the Shelf the power of positivity, and I could kick off a year's worth of kindness curriculum (for lack of a better term).
Adventures in ING
So begins the Adventures in ING. In the coming months I hope to make one pair of elves for each month and an accompanying list of ideas that explore each core concept. Here is the first draft of our year of Adventures in ING:
December - Giving
January - Smiling
February - Loving
March - Reading
April - Planning, Planting
May - Blooming
June - Adventuring
July - Listening
August - Dreaming
September - Teaching
October - Changing
November - Thanking
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