The Elf Camera

The first time I saw the movie "The Polar Express" I didn't get what all the hype was about. The first time I saw the movie, I fell asleep. Although I purchased it, I never pulled it out to rewatch it. I remembered it as being boring.

Until I watched it again this year.

It was being played on the Family Channel and almost more out of a sense of duty than anything else, I turned it on to watch it rather than have Short Person watch any of the other stuff that was on during the evening. 45 minutes later, I became a believer and chalked the movie up as one of my all-time favorite holiday movies.

So did Short Person.

We watched it, and rewatched it, and rewatched it, loving almost everything about the movie-- the music, the scenery, the story.

Most of you know that LJS and I have been having a really hard time getting Short Person interested in sleeping in her own bed, in her own room. The man in her room and the monsters under her bed have kept her from enjoying her personal space, and as much as I've had night terrors in my life and have been in situations where the presence of an unseen man is not unheard of, I am not one to force an issue that scares a 4-year-old.

But for reasons that I'm sure you can all understand, having a 4-year-old in your bed for the better part of her life doesn't bode well for a marital relationship and the desire to banish her fears has been a constant perplexing issue.

So we try. Over and over and over.

We'd been using the argument that Santa checks on little boys and girls when they are sleeping to see if they'd been naughty or nice. "He sees you when you are sleeping", we told her. "How is he going to see you when you are sleeping, if you are not in your own bed?" we'd ask. Always confronted in return with the face of her fear.

And then finally, it would seem that Santa answered even our wish in a most unexpected way.

There is a scene in the movie "The Polar Express" that takes place after the train car breaks away from the pack and crashes the children into the depths of the elves village. They wander away and into the main headquarters, where the elf general is watching and checking the last minute naughty or nice children.

In the middle of the room there is a large pyramid stacked with television screens, all showing the face of a sleeping child.

And an idea struck.

Short Person and I were set to drive up to the airport so that I could pick up a couple things I had seen on an earlier trip. They were funny file folders printed with text like "Papers I will shuffle endlessly to make it look like I'm busy" and "Papers I will never get around to reading", etc. I thought they'd make a funny gag gift for my boss.

A few days earlier, I had ventured to Walgreens to find a fiber-optic light to put in Short Person's room. A colorful nightlight that might scare away the shadows. Instead, I found an LED Snowman, one with a light that changes from red to green to blue to pink over and over, and an idea hit.

An elf camera.

I showed the light to LJS and explained what I wanted him to do with it while we were gone shopping.

Short Person and I arrived home from the airport and LJS greeted her in the living room.

"I think Santa was here earlier! I heard a loud noise on the roof, and then... there was something in your room." He told her, mirroring a voice of moderated excitement mixed with subdued curiosity.

"What was it, Dad?" She asked.

"I don't know. Let's go look and see if we can find anything new."

LJS took her hand and together they walked into the bedroom. Short Person gasped and exclaimed, "He WAS here! Look what he left me!... What is it?"

I looked it over. "Hmm... Well, maybe it's an elf camera. I mean, we were wondering how he was going to see you, right?"

"What does it do?" She asked.

"Well, I think at night it turns on so Santa can see you." I replied.

"Great! Can I go to bed now?"

I looked at the clock. Honey, it's only five o'clock. It's way to early to go to bed. Besides, you haven't even had dinner yet!

She mumbled a little and went about doing things she wanted to do, until finally bedtime arrived.

And she's slept in her bed since.

Although I've dated this for the day that we set up the "camera", it is now the end of the year. We've had one or two bobbles along the way. Days where she has slept in our room instead of hers, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

In addition to the elf camera, we've also increased her marble incentive by making the jar smaller and giving her larger (and more) marbles for sleeping in her bed. She gets 1 giant marble if she sleeps part of the way in it, and 2 giant marbles if she sleeps all night there. Once the jar is full, she will earn a new game for her Leapster.

The other night, she couldn't sleep. She got scared and went into our room to lay down. After about five minutes she said, "You know, I'm really scared, but I need to sleep in my own room." She got up, went in to her room, and slept the rest of the night.

We gave her 3 giant marbles. Two for all night and one for facing her fears.

And now I get to say, Merry Christmas to us, and breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Thank you, Santa :)