Elf on the Shelf... ish

My five year old son is, well, five, so I thought that Elf on the Shelf might be an extra carrot/stick in my December parenting arsenal. When I investigated the cheapest I found was around £25 and I am far too tight to pay that for something that looks like this:

So I shelved (sorry...) the idea until I was in the pound shop last week and I discovered these beauties. I think you'll agree that they could practically be twins - in the freaky sense, anyway.

Son was sceptical about the origin of the "elf" but the beauty of him being five is that he is a die hard Santa believer and when he suggested we get rid of it I said we couldn't possibly because Santa had sent him. It's kind of working in that he's a little freaked out but I'm sticking with it because he hasn't had a nightmare or anything and any way I can get someone else to be the bad guy "do you want the elf to tell Santa?" is a way I can stay looking golden.

He's on a high shelf which would require a chair to get to, but this is how I frequently find him

If you get a chance you definitely need to google Elf on the Shelf related blogs. Some parents really get carried away, some totally tongue in cheek and others really creative and funny, like Lil Blue Boo's