It’s 8:50 pm and the kids should have been asleep an hour ago. My patience is running thin and I really just want to go unwind after a really fun, but really busy day.

When the Bean comes out of her room for the gazillionth time with some fabricated excuse, I finally pulled the Buddy card. I got right down on her level and spoke to her really seriously-

“Bean, Buddy is really upset with you now. If you don’t go to bed right this second and not get out again, he’s not going to move and he’s going to tell Santa you’ve been naughty.”

The Bean glances up at Buddy and without missing a beat says to me:

“Actually Mom, Buddy is smiling at me. He thinks I’m funny.”

Clearly the inventor of Elf on the Shelf didn’t have any little kids because if s/he did, the Elf would have two facial expressions.  Trying to scare my kid into submission with an Elf who won’t wipe that grin off his face isn’t working at all.