Am I the only one struggling with the ever popular Elf on the Shelf tradition?Last year was the first year Ace came home from school asking for one.  Of course, he heard all the silly things his classmate's elves were doing and wanted in on the fun.  Who can blame him?  Secretly, so did I!  DH and I went back and forth with thoughts of getting one for our house but there was something that just felt unsettled with both of us.  We don't celebrate Santa Claus in our house at all.  It's not that we completely ban the man in red entirely, we have quite a few movies with him in them, but generally I veer away from things centered around him.  For the simple fact that I think Christmas should be centered around Christ's Nativity. Many people celebrate St. Nicholas when including Santa in their holiday, but we celebrate St. Nicholas on his feastday December 6.  It just makes sense to me that if Santa is derived from St. Nicholas, and we know all about the real St. Nicholas, why wouldn't I just teach my children that?After St. Nicholas day, we enjoy a simple advent season, making memories by doing things together like baking, crafting and cuddling on the couch reading stories.  We count down to Christmas with a little advent house and a fun little Advent Storybook about a little bear who follows the Star of Bethlehem and each day encounters someone new on his journey who teaches him a different lesson about life.  We try really hard to keep our focus and this is sometimes pretty challenging because each year there is less and less about Jesus at Christmastime and more about everything else.  It's still mostly good stuff, I can't complain about that, there is still plenty of emphasis on kindness and goodwill toward our fellow man but Christ is just not a part of it and I personally don't like that.  I just feel like if Christmas is about the birth of Christ, it should be about the birth of Christ and if we rarely talk about it or include Him in that event, then we really aren't celebrating Him, are we?To make a long story short (or as short as I'm capable of making a story), I wasn't comfortable bringing an elf that reports back to Santa each night into our home when it's hard enough already to keep the focus off of that very concept.   So, last year we used a gingerbread man.  I wrote a little story about how the gingerbread man did not really get eaten at all and now hops from house to house causing mischief.  He showed up under the tree on Christmas morning along with the Gingerbread Man book and my addition to the story and stuck around for the 12 days of Christmas before taking off to visit another family.  I figured this way, the boys can have a little fun with the different pranks he'd pull and it wouldn't cut in on Christmas because it didn't start until Christmas Day.Here is a photo of him the time he followed us to the Christmas village.  He stole my phone and took random photos of things he liked and wanted for Christmas, lol.Here he is after his capture by Lego men.Unfortunately, while this sounded perfect in theory in didn't play out as well in real life.  The stuffed animal was very difficult to pose, making it hard for him to manipulate his stunts.  Then, I started noticing that the more stunts he pulled, the more mischievous my boys became.  They randomly began to do naughty little things around the house, blaming it all on the gingerbread man.  {smart kids, huh?}  Don't get me wrong, they loved it and kept asking if he was coming back this year or not.  Just in case you're wondering too, he's not.  Because I forgot where I packed him, lol.  {whoops}Now, I know there are plenty of families that use the elf in great ways, my sister Geri does some really awesome things with hers, but this was the scenario in our home. After he disappeared, and the Christmas season passed we didn't hear anything more about the Elf on the Shelf...until this year. Ace desperately wanted one of the little guys and they really are super cute.  I know some people think they're creepy but I don't think they are, they actually remind me of the old fashioned dolls from the fifties and sixties.So, this year when Ace and Lucky started asking about them again this year, I caved.  One of the most difficult things of raising an Orthodox family is finding balance.  There are so many things I have to say no about, different books and movies and toys and video games, that I started to feel sort of bad.  Was having the elf really that big of a deal? During the week of Thanksgiving, I got a 30% off coupon from Barnes and Noble and finally agreed to let them have one.  Well, one turned into two because the following week they won one at school.The first couple of days were fun.  We named them together and registered them online.  Lucky's elf was caught writing him a note telling him to have a good day at school and Ace's elf made sure to brush his teeth before bed.  But then, more and more conversations and imaginative play about the magic, Santa Claus and all the other little elves, emerged.   Things for all these years, we've managed to keep out of our home. I immediately felt a major shift.  Maybe the shift was inside of me, maybe not, but it was not pleasant.  I felt somehow robbed of something inside.  That might sound strange, but it's how I felt; like something inside of me and inside of our home just disappeared.  Most homes "do Santa" and obviously I have no problem or opinions with that,  I grew up believing in it all too, but when DH and I got married we decided we wanted to do things a bit differently.  Each family has to do what they feel is best for their family and like I tell the boys, they will come across people all of their lives that do things differently, not necessarily better or worse, just different.  Every family has different rules based on their needs, beliefs or whatever.  In no way am I saying families that believe in Santa and elves celebrate Christ any less.  This is simply the situation in my house and the way DH and I are choosing to raise our children.Anyway, my wheels began to turn and I tried thinking of ways I could get around this whole elf thing.  What exactly was it that my boys found so fascinating?  Though, there's a bit more to it than this, I decided the two main reasons they wanted in on the whole thing were:1.  All their friends were doing it.   (this is a bad reason for pretty much everything)1. Anticipating what the elf would do next.2.  The sheer fun of doing things in secret.This reminded me of the RACK tradition we also started doing last year.  My mind also went back to the gingerbread man.  How could I incorporate something positive/Christ-centered and enjoyable for them without focusing on Santa and his elves?  I really wanted something that would promote virtue and give my children the truly magical feeling you get when you give to others.  That magic only comes through Christ.  Then, during my morning Pinterest break early last week, I ran across this post.  It all clicked right then and there.  Anna's idea was exactly what I needed.  I simply love her post and agree with it entirely.  She also basically took the same type of ideas we used for our RACK projects and combined it with the concept of the gingerbread man!  Except she used these adorable little dolls that were flexible enough to pose in different positions.  I LOVED it! But there was one problem.  She lives in the UK and the dolls she used are nowhere to be found here in the US.  People were leaving comments of different types of dolls they were going to use but I had already fallen in love with these little guys.I found several that were similar on Amazon and a few Swedish sites but the prices were more than I was willing to spend.  Most were in the $15-$20 price range plus shipping for just one doll.  I wanted something cheap{er}. And wouldn't you know during my swing through the Christmas section at Target, I found almost the same exact dolls she used for only...are you ready? $2.50 each!  I almost screamed.  Actually, I did gasp dramatically when Ace and Lucky (they get the credit of finding them) held them up for me to see!  "And they're on sale!" Ace exclaimed.  That's my boy...  They didn't have very many left so I grabbed the few that they did.  If you're looking for them, h u r r y.  If they're out, they did have quite of few of this doll ornament and she could work too, she just not as flexible.We got home and I set to work.  What would we call them?  Geri and I brainstormed a bit about this and then finally we decided.So without further adieu, I present to you The Kindness Kids!The Kindness Kids come from the city of Goodwill and travel from place to place spreading kindness and cheer in the name of Jesus (through the little cards) all Christmas season.  Every year on November 30, they show up somewhere on the front porch in a little suitcase.I decorated a plain cardboard suitcase (also found at Target for $4.99) with a stamp that looks like a postage stamp and stickers from different countries.  The stamp I bought several years ago at Michael's craft store and the stickers were from Lucky's Little Passports subscription.Every day, they appear doing silly little things on their own, but more plain silly than naughty this time.   And several times a week, they give us our RACK project for the day.  So they help us spread Christ's love and we have fun with it in the process.  It's perfect!There are so many ideas out there for Elf on the Shelf that can be used with our Kindness Kids, too.  It feels so much better to create this tradition in a way that fits our family.  The boys are so excited and we've had a blast with them so far!  They were thinking of naming them each for one of their favorite city's.  So far we've got Brooklyn, Paris, Athens and Frisco.  <3  I'm not quite sure who is who yet though, lol.The boys took their elves into the playroom, they were not very keen on the no touching rule anyway, and instead of making them a major focus of our holiday season they remain toys.   And to my delight, after they played with them for a few days, the novelty wore off and they aren't even thought about now.  We have a blast with our Kindness Kids and it gives me peace of mind because they're not bringing in any ideas we don't already have while making our RACK project even more fun.  It's a win win situation for us!I'll be doing another post that will be full of RACK ideas and silly fun ideas next week!  Stay tuned!  If you end up creating your own version of Kindness Kids be sure to post photos on my facebook page, tag me @OrthodoxMom on Instagram and Twitter and hashtag #omkindnesskids.  I'd love to see them!Stay tuned!UPDATE:  Check out these 40 Ideas for Kindness Kids here!