Monday, December 25, 2006

The Christmas Elf


Christmas memories are tricky. They are so tied up in wishful thinking, pop-culture and the collective unconscious that they really can’t be trusted. Joel Achenbach falsely remembered a childhood of watching Christmas specials with his mom. His mom refused to collaborate this fantasy. I’d get a new mom.

I have a rather vivid memory from my early elementary school days, back when kids quit believing in Santa Claus but want to keep the game going. I had been an elf in a school Christmas pageant. I saved the elf costume and hid it at a neighbor’s house. Early Christmas morning I woke up before everybody else like I always do and went to the neighbor’s and changed my pajamas for the elf suit.

I then returned home and woke everybody else up insisting that I was one of Santa’s helpers left behind to help with the presents. Everybody played along but kept trying to trick me into admitting I wasn’t an elf. At first they wouldn’t let me open ‘my’ presents, because some elf-imposter shouldn’t be opening someone else’s gifts. Eventually they relented and accepted my convoluted reasoning. I had a great time playing along and helping keep the Christmas magic going.

I have no evidence this ever happened. I have never seen pictures of me in the elf costume and my parents never bring it up as one of their fond memories. They prefer to remember the year I woke everybody up at 12:30 am thinking it was 6:00 because the clock hands were straight up and down. Still, that memory of Christmas morning as an elf is as real to me as Santa Claus and his flying reindeer.

Thanks to the good folks at Office Depot, I can recreate that magical morning on the internet. Click here or on the elf for my special Christmas production exclusively for readers of this blog. Or go here and make one of your own.

Merry Christmas

from Yellojkt

Blatant Christmas Cheer Spreading™:
Share a memory from your childhood or link to your own Christmas story.

9 comments:

Jean-Luc Picard said...

Is this sort of this thing good for the elf?

Happy Christmas!

Michele sent me.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget to ask everyone what their favorite color is, Buddy.

bc

craziequeen said...

Happy Christmas, yellojkt!! :-)

Here via Michele this wonderful day.

Keep thinking of your Elf :-)

cq

Anonymous said...

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, yello. I will no longer be able to look at an elf without thinking of you.

And Happy Boxing Day!

yellojkt said...

Harsh, bc. Not every post can be snarky. It's Christmas, dammit.

HRH Courtney, Queen of Everything said...

Oh, dear...
I had a similar time warp happen one Christmas. I remember going to bed and saying goodnight to my mother who was right outside my door. I woke up what SEEMED like three seconds later, and she was still standing there, so I said goodnight, mom. Merry Christmas. And she laughed at me and told me to get up, it was Christmas morning and time to open presents.

Jeff and Charli Lee said...

Ok, that video of you is just a bit creepy. But in a totally good way. Thanks for the laugh!

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/New Year etc!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm not going to go into detail here, but that picture of you in the little elf costume....does something to me.

Wow. That. Is. Hot!

yellojkt said...

Thanks, Jennine. I think. I never expected to have a blogging groupie.