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After their very first very fun night sleeping over at our house, Elliot woke up all excited to come downstairs and see them laying under the tree right where we left them. When she came down and saw they were missing, she began to cry. I asked her to come with me and read the letter again that Santa wrote and left with the Helpers. I said didn't Santa say something in his letter about them exploring and taking notes? After her questionable "yes" and wiping away the lone tear sitting upon her cheek, I explained further that maybe they were looking around the house all night and didn't make it back under the tree. She called for Mia and they ran through the house looking for them. Every morning was the same. Well - almost every morning...and almost the same - just no tears! There were some nights they were just too tired to move. But here's a few of the places we found them while they got to stay with us...Immediately after Christmas they went into hibernation mode. Mia began to notice that they never moved from under the tree. "Mommy - our Santa's helpers are boring now"...They never move anymore and we always find them under the tree every morning in the same exact spot they were in the night before". (Oh dear - you don't say...). It was then that I had to explain that elves are so tired after Christmas that they sleep for almost a whole month before having to get up and start making toys for next year's Christmas!Well they must have heard that we were taking down the tree soon and wouldn't have a comfy place to sleep - so they went back to the North Pole. Hopefully we will have Santa's helpers come again next year to visit. We sure did have fun discovering their adventures every morning!
