Mum finds the BEST way to retire her Elf on the Shelf for good

A mum has come up with a hilarious way to retire her Elf on the Shelf - for good!

It's a dilemma many parents face come December. While you want to make sure your children experience the magic of Christmas for as long as possible, the Elf on the Shelf tradition requires a commitment that can prove too much for the festive season, not to mention constant inspiration hunting for naughty elf on the shelf ideas.

Not only do you have to get ready for the big day and do all your Christmas shopping, you also have to remember to move your new lodger every night and ideally come up with new inventive scenarios.

With so much effort, it's no wonder parents have thought of ways of getting out of having to do Elf on the Shelf every day. A mum recently shared the hack she usually uses when she needs a few days off, revealing that she tells her kids that the elf has broken his leg and needs a few days to recover - and conveniently can't move.

But now a mum has come up with a genius way to retire her elf - for good. Writing in a Facebook post, Christy Heins from Illinois, US, explained how she used a letter 'From the Desk of Santa Claus' to tell her kids this was elf George's last year in their house.

https://www.facebook.com/christy.heins.3/posts/10100267295250387

She wrote in her post: 'George Elf has been our elf on the shelf for the past three years, but after a short career, we are congratulating him on his retirement.

'I know that some people truly enjoy setting up elaborate scenes with their elf, but for me, cleaning up after 3 children and a dog is enough. 😜 I forgot to move him more times than I can even count, and I cut it close a few times trying to sneakily move him after the kids were already awake.'

Continuing to say that the festive season should be 'peaceful' but little George made it hard for her to relax, and that he had no effect on her kids' behaviour, she said the letter was a way to keep the Christmas magic alive while also taking the pressure off her.

In the letter, written to Christy's three little girls by Santa himself, he explains that George's Christmas wish is to be a real toy, so they should touch him and play with him for the rest of the month, before he returns to the North Pole with Santa on Christmas Eve.

'He has enjoyed you three girls so much over the years that his only wish for Christmas this year was to be a REAL toy in your house.

'George Elf wanted more than anything to be played with like a real toy. He saw the excitement and happiness in your eyes each morning when you found him, and he wanted you to be able to touch him and play with him just like your other toys. He asked me if I could make this wish come true for him this Christmas, and I said YES! I love making Christmas wishes come true.'

'I will pick him up when I visit your house on Christmas Eve and he will ride back to the North Pole in my sleigh to spend the rest of the year with his elf family,' Santa writes in his letter.

Many parents have been open in the past about the stress that Elf on the Shelf causes them during December. One dad even created a new tradition called Reindeer in Here to make life easier for people with little ones at Christmas.

Would you try this with your kids? Let us know in the comments!