Spy Elves!

Have you seen a SpyElf yet? What? You don't know what SpyElves are? Well, I'll tell you about them.

SpyElves are what keeps little children behaving around here, from the middle of October until Christmas Eve Eve (that would be December 23 for you mathematically challenged readers). Then they have to high tail it back to the North Pole to give the big man their final report before he packs up and heads south to deliver gifts.

SpyElves are not dressed in the typical costumes associated with elves, although they do possess those and may at times don them, but only when actually in the presence of Santa. No, they are usually dressed just like you or me...but they are a little smaller and a little quicker than most of us. There are two distinctive characteristics of SpyElves, though, that even their contemporary clothing can't hide-they wear pointy toe shoes and they have pointy ears. Sometimes their shoes are disguised as in cowboy boots or women's pointy toed high heels...and you'll rarely see a SpyElf with super short hair or a pony tail, unless it covers their ears.

SpyElves will often look just like people you actually know in real life, and you really don't know if the SpyElf has taken on your friend's looks or if your friend is actually a SpyElf. See how tricky that can be? An example of this is when Jacob was little. He and I lived with my Mom and Dad, and my brother Mark and his family lived next door. We were in the kitchen one afternoon, sometime just before Christmas and just a little before dark, and Jacob was not acting very nice. We saw someone peeking in the kitchen door window that we THOUGHT was my niece, Sarah (who, co-incidentally, had long hair and never, ever showed her ears...hmmm...). But then just seconds later, Sarah disappeared. Then, just seconds after THAT, the phone rang and it was Sarah-calling from her house. Very curious.

Another example is my cousin Susan. Jacob was convinced that he never, ever saw her except around the holidays, she often wore pointy toed cowboy boots and, try as he might, he never saw her ears. He would sneak up on her and try to move her hair so that he could see her ears, but she was always too quick for that. And, she's very small, as is Sarah...hmm...very curious indeed.

One year all the young children I knew did get letters from Santa on the weekend after Thanksgiving, and in the letter he mentioned that he had the reports for October and November from his southern region SpyElves...more evidence that they exist.

We have only seen one "person" this year that we believe might be a SpyElf, but that's the other tricky thing about them...we don't really know who they are or when they might me looking in the window...so good behavior at all times is a must for small children.

See how nicely that works out?