My youngest daughter and her husband asked me to watch their kids last weekend. They did NOT inform me of the Elf on the Shelf rules. So when I opened the refrigerator door and Buddy’s legs were in the way when I started to close the door, I moved his legs.
From behind me I heard the scream of my 7-year-old granddaughter. “NOOOO! You’re not supposed to touch Buddy!”
Frightened, I backed away from the refrigerator as I went into all-out defense mode. “I wasn’t touching him.”
“YES YOU WERE! I SAW YOU!”
“No, I was just moving his leg so I wouldn’t smash it in the refrigerator door. Do you want to see him with a cast on his leg? I wasn’t hurting him. I was saving him.”
That seemed to work. She calmed down.
Until yesterday – when she woke up – and found him still on the refrigerator. In my defense I was already home, so I take no responsibility for why he was still on the refrigerator.
“Grandma killed Buddy!” she sobbed to her parents when she discovered he hadn’t moved. Nothing her parents said appeased her and she spent the whole day thinking I had killed her beloved Buddy.
I knew nothing about any of the happenings yesterday, but I got a call today informing me of the rules about Buddy. Rule one – you can NOT touch him; otherwise he might die. Rule two (I found this one by looking online) – Buddy does not speak or move while you are awake.
Fortunately I have been forgiven, because as of this morning Buddy was alive and well. He had moved!
Lesson learned!
