Tag Archives: For the kid

Mischief Makers Day 14: Squibbles, Squabbles, and Spats

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Nim and Lil stood on the table glaring at each other. Never had Lil been so livid nor Nim so nettled.

Normally, the two agreed on each night’s plans. Sometimes Nim would decide, other times it would be Lil’s idea. They had never quibbled, much less, quarreled about the scheme.

Not so tonight. Tonight sparks crackled above their heads and glitter threatened to pour out their ears.

“Nim,” seethed Lil, attempting to calm down, “It’s my turn to come up with an idea, so that means we do it my way.”

“Lil,” returned Nim, trying to chill out, “It is only fair that we go with my idea.”

In disbelief, Lil peeled, “What do you mean it’s only fair?”

“Well, it was you who stuck me in a vacuum!!!”

“That was days ago! And you weren’t that upset about it!”

“I HAVE A DENT IN MY HEAD!”

Both elves huffed and crossed their arms, neither willing to give in or back down.

Lil wanted to stick her head through a box of rice krispies and impersonate one of the three gnomes: Snap, Crackle or Pop.

Nim wanted to hang paper lanterns all over the house and cheekily peek out of one.

Nim tried a different tack, and in a calmer voice said, “The cereal box thing has been done, Lil. I’ve never heard any of our friends talk about paper lanterns before.”

Lil considered Nim’s reasoning. It’s true, the rice krispie trick had been done before but had never failed to thrill and delight both kids and parents.

“Just look at this box of cereal though, Nim,” Lil said, unwilling to let go of the idea, “There is an astronaut on the back! That has never been done before.”

Nim sighed as he turned to see Lil with her head poking out of the cereal box. His argument died on his lips and he gave a little chuckle.

“Alright, Lil,” he sighed. “Why don’t we just do…different things tonight.”

Lil brightened and she agreed. “Yes! We won’t even be in the same house next year, so…”

Lil trailed off, suddenly realizing what she was saying.

“Nim,” she said sadly. “We won’t be in the same house next year.”

“I know,” Nim said quietly.

Their argument now seemed silly. After all, next season they would be in different houses doing different things each night.

“But we can meet up at the North Pole and trade stories!” Lil said, brightening.

“That’s right!” agreed Nim enthusiastically. “We can even swap houses for a night or two. Won’t the girls be excited to see me again?”

“And won’t the boys love a visit from their old pal Lil?”

Nim cheerfully buzzed to the paper lanterns and burrowed into the snowman.

They smiled at each other from across the kitchen, both reassured that their friendship and shenanigans would continue into the next holiday season.

Mischief Makers Day 13: Fantastic Film Flurry

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“Oh!” cried Lil worriedly on their way back from Santa’s Workshop. “Did you see how upset Joe was when he saw you in the vacuum? And Jake!!!”

Nim nodded, rubbing the dent in his head from being stuck in the vacuum all night. He had never seen the boys so sad. He thought Nim was stuck in the filter forever…that he would never get out.

‘ “He got in there,” his mom had said. “I’m sure he will be able to get out and fly back to the North Pole.” ‘

But she hadn’t looked convinced. In fact, she looked a bit cross.

“We’ll just have to make it up to them tonight,” he said, trying to comfort Lil. “We’ll have to give them something fun to do.”

“But what?” asked Lil, tears in her eyes. “What can we possibly do to make up for distressing the kids so much?”

She had a sudden, horrible thought. “What if the moms ban us from coming back in the house??”

Nim didn’t want to admit it, but he’d been thinking the same thing. He’d never heard of it happening before…but still. They had to do something tonight that would make the kids happy and excited.

Nim would just have to hide the dent in his head under his hat.

“I know!” he said. “We can set up the living room for a movie night!!!”

They got to work.

First, they wrote a short note for the kids and leaned it up against a stuffed snowman.

A very merry Christmas show
Is hidden in this room
Just look above and look below
And you will find it soon

You’ll have to wait until it’s night
You’ll have to all be good
Obey, be nice, have fun, sit tight
And listen, as you should

They hid the Berenstein Bears Christmas Tree movie in the fireplace, wrapping it in ribbon.

Then Nim zipped into the kitchen and pulled some tape out of the drawer. He secured Lil to the underside of the TV, adding ribbon and bells.

After that, he stuck a few pieces of tape to his legs, grabbed a piece of ribbon for his hat and dangled next to Lil.

“This is really uncomfortable,” complained Lil. “My head is going to be sore from hanging here all day.”

Nim burst out laughing. “At least you won’t get a dent in yours!”

Mischief Makers Day 12: Vroom, Vroom Vacuum

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Peals of tinkling laughter filled the living room. Nim and Lil were celebrating the return of Lil’s magic by streaming around the room throwing paper, ribbon, confetti and glitter…everywhere.

A little out of breath, the two elves stopped and hovered over the jumbled mess they had just made. Their eyes grew wide and their mouths fell open.

“I guess we got a little carried away,” said Nim, merriment in his eyes.

Lil twirled in mid air, somersaulted across the room, bounced on the couches and tumbled right into Nim, knocking his hat off.

“Hey,” said Nim. “Watch where you’re going.”

“Sorry!” Lil exclaimed. “I’m just so happy to have my powers back.”

“We’d better get this place cleaned up,” Nim declared. “The kids will be up soon, and we still need to hide.”

They started to pick up the ribbon, paper, and bows. Lil, using pixie dust, pulled the vacuum cleaner into the living room and ran it across the floor, sucking up glitter and confetti.

“Oops!” shouted Nim. “Don’t suck my hat up in that thing!”

He buzzed down to his hat and tried to pull it out. Lil shut the cleaner off and floated down to help him.

Then it hit her.

“What are you doing?” asked Nim as he watched Lil speed back up to the vacuum with his hat.

“You’re going in!”

Nim wasn’t sure how much he liked this idea.

“Ga thn t dnt ls sshn.”

“What’s that?” asked Lil.

Nim shook his head, getting it wedged further into the filter. He had said, “Good thing this doesn’t lose suction,” but Lil couldn’t understand him through the plastic.

Lil grinned mischievously and picked up Nim’s hat. She flew up to the light fixture above the vacuum with a piece of ribbon.

“This is going to be so funny!” she called down to Nim.

But he could barely hear her.

“It’s going to be a long day,” he mumbled.

Mischief Makers Day 11: Lil’ Lil Lost

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Nim flew Lil to the North Pole as fast as he could go.

“How many times have they been told not to touch us!” he cried out in frustration.

Lil whispered faintly, “But it was Jacob. He is too young to truly understand that if he touches us…we lose our powers.”

Nim knew this was true, but he couldn’t shake the worry that clouded his brow.

In what seemed like years, he finally arrived at the North Pole Hospital. Whizzing past the reception desk, he found Dr. Twinkle and explained what had happened.

“We have one or two cases every year,” sighed Dr. Twinkle. “She’ll be alright after a night or two in the hospital.”

“Then she can go back?” asked Nim hopefully.

“Well…,” began Dr. Twinkle. “Not quite. The kids must show that they can behave themselves. Must show that they still believe. Until they do that…she won’t regain her powers.”

After the doctor had left the room, Nim gave Lil a determined look. “Don’t worry Lil. I have a plan to get them to behave and to make sure they still believe.”

On his solitary flight back to the house, Nim made a mental checklist of what he would need:

  • Googly eyes
  • Magnifying glass
  • Bananas
  • Orange
  • Paper
  • Red pen

Once he landed on the kitchen table, he got right to work.

First, he wrote a short note to the kids.

Since Lil is not here
You’ll have to deal with me
Please don’t shed a tear
She’ll be back soon with glee
Now you must all be good
And obey your mom and dad
Act as you know you should
And you’ll make us very glad
I’ve brought in extra eyes
To keep watch over you
It should be no surprise
They’ll see everything you do
-Nim

Just in case they couldn’t read his tiny writing, he placed a Santa hat magnifying glass on top of the note.

“And now for the fun part.”

It was a lonely job gluing googly eyes on all the bananas, pumpkins and squash with no laughing Lil by his side; but Nim was sure that if it was done right, the kids would get back on track.

Once eyes were on all the produce, Nim swooped to the top of the kitchen cabinets and placed them here, there and everywhere.

By the watering can…

Above the microwave…

And for good measure…he put them on the Santa nesting dolls.

After making sure that everything was perfect, Nim swooped to the top of the cabinets and nestled himself among 3 oranges, 2 bananas and a squash.

“I sure hope this does the trick,” he whispered.

Mischief Makers Day 10: Zig, Zag, Zoom!

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“I don’t know Lil,” Nim began nervously. “After last night’s stunt we may not want to make such a big mess.”

Lil was pulling the wrapping paper off of the cabinets from the other day’s fiasco. Smiling, she ripped and crumpled the red paper.

“Oh, come on Nim. They weren’t too mad about the spray snow. The kids thought it was funny and the moms didn’t really seem to mind.”

“I don’t know…” said Nim.

Lil whirled around the living room, throwing wrapping paper bombs everywhere. Nim, caught up in Lil’s fun, forgot his worries and joined in pulling ribbon off of a spool and zig zagging it over the couches.

The elves made a pile in the middle of the floor of all the Christmas-themed books, coloring sheets and movies they could find.

They pulled out stuffed santas and snowmen and decorated a chair with an extra set of Christmas lights.

Once they had their fill of flying and fun, the they hovered over the mess on the floor.

“That should get them in the Christmas spirit!” said Lil.

“Now what do we do?” asked Nim.

Nim and Lil spun around the pile, trying to think of something good. Lil spied a box of candy canes on the table and Nim picked up a piece of ribbon from the tangle strewn all over the floor.

At the same time, Nim cried “Zip lines!” and Lil shouted, “Candy canes!”

Giggling, they both got to work.

Lil flew to the tree with four candy canes, one for each kid. She hid them in the branches.

They wrote a little note to the kiddos and placed it on top of the pile in the arms of a stuffed Santa.

Come take a look. Come choose a book.
Gaze at the tree. What do you see?
Sweet little treats for all to eat.
They’re all the same, but you must find your name.

Nim and Lil

Nim used the ribbon to create zip lines. Lil’s from the window to the fireplace. His from the kitchen light to a ceiling fan.

Both elves grabbed a candy cane and flew to their places.

“I can hear them laughing now!” squealed Lil.

Nim just smiled.

Mischief Makers Day 9: Spray Snow Stunt

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Nim and Lil had been itching to do something with the can of fake snow that had been on the counter since their first day. But…they were afraid that the mess would be too much and they didn’t want any more complaints to Santa.

“We really shouldn’t,” said Nim.

“I know,” said Lil, twirling around the can. “It’s just so tempting. And, why would they leave it out every night if they didn’t want us to do something with it?”

“Hmmm…,” said Nim, scratching is elfin chin. “You do have a good point.”

Lil gave a sly grin and zipped to the can, sprinkled it with fairy dust so she could lift it and got to work.

Lil zoomed around in circles, making a snowman on the big picture window and then hung a gingerbread house window cling kit for the girls and toy shop for the boys.

Nim drew all over the sliding glass door and reminded the kids that they had to behave for their mom and dad.

“Maybe the parents will let the mess slide if we remind the kids to be good,” he said as he finished spraying all the windows with a flourish.

They pulled the curtains shut and left a note on a teeny tiny chalkboard. “Look behind the curtains.”

Lil flew up and hid at the top of the window sash and Nim flew over and cloaked himself in the side.

Then they waited.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have made such a huge mess,” Nim whispered nervously, glancing around at all the windows and the snow that drifted over all of the furniture, floor, tree, carpet and curtains.

“Maybe,” said Lil in a hushed tone. “But, we didn’t make a mess last night and did you see the look on the mom’s faces when they read Santa’s poem to the kids? I think they really liked what we did.”

“Maybe,” he said. “But I’m telling Santa it was your idea if he gets a complaint!”

And with a wink and a smile, the elves watched and waited.

Mischief Makers Day 6: Daring Dino Disaster

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“Parents have written to me complaining about the messes all you elves are making,” Santa said to the crowd in his workshop. “I know you all have fun, but making a mess every night may get you fired.”

A collective gasp came from the sea if elves gathered for Santa’s nightly pep talk.

Only one silly sprite had ever been fired from his duty as a Mischief Maker.

Poor Snowflake had emptied an entire bottle of Sudsy Bubble Bath in a tub, planning to float on a toy tube until morning. But…while waiting for the water to fill, he flitted to the kitchen to eat some of the red and green sprinkles that had been left on the counter. They were so good, he ended up eating the whole bottle.

Turns out, a whole bottle of sprinkles is too much for one elf.

He whizzed around the living room, hyped up on sprinkles, and then passed out in a sugar coma on the floor.

Meanwhile, the bath water continued to run.

The water overflowed. Fluffy, wet, white clouds of suds spilled out of the bathroom and down the hall. It was an awful mess. Parents complained enough that poor Snowflake was fired. Since then, he’s been cleaning reindeer droppings in the barn.

“Mischief can be made without a mess,” Santa finished.

Nim and Lil flew back in silence. Both were worried about all of the chaos they had caused over the past few days. Some were worse than others, but still.

“Let’s do something funny this time,” said Nim. “Without jumbling up the house.”

Lil agreed and they landed on the kitchen table with a quiet flop, knocking over a toy T-Rex. Nim’s hat came off as he rolled across the table, and Lil crashed into the salt and pepper.

“Oof,” cried Lil as the T-Rex knocked over the other dinos.

The elves looked at the toys, the salt, the pepper and the glass of water someone had left on the table. In their clumsiness, they had already managed to knock over everything and make a huge mess!

“Oh no,” Lil moaned, tears springing to her eyes.

“Oh it’s ok, Lil,” said Nim. “We can clean it up.”

A slow smile spread on Nim’s face. He knew exactly what they would do tonight…and it wouldn’t make a mess at all.

***

“There!” said Lil. “It’s perfect! Such a great idea, Nim.”

Nim smiled proudly as he strapped himself on to the top of the safari truck.

A T-Rex was pulling the safari truck, Nim’s hat in his mouth.

long neck had Lil’s skirt on, while she was wearing a coffee filter and protecting her hat with a sock.

“So, we were minding our own business when four hungry dinosaurs attacked,” began Nim.

“We tried to stuff them in the safari truck but they were too sneaky for us,” continued Lil.

“They stole my hat-“

“And my skirt…wait, how did they get you on top of the truck?”

“Pixie dust!” exclaimed Nim.

And then they laughed and giggled and watched for the kids.

Mischief Makers Day 1: Tangled in Tinsel

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THUMP! Nim and Lil landed on the window sill and silently they crept into the house. It was “opening night” and they had something special planned to start the season off.

“Nim! This bag is heavier than Santa’s sleigh!” said Lil as she hefted the bag off of Nim.

Lil got a piece of paper and red marker down from the desk.

“What are you doing?” Nim whispered.

“Writing a letter to them…explaining to the girls how I found them.”

While Lil wrote, Nim opened his bag pulling out a packet of hot chocolate and a Christmas mug for each child.

There was one extra packet of cocoa in the box and Nim was feeling a bit hungry. He hadn’t had anything since his dinner of marshmallows and chocolate syrup–with a side of jelly beans.

He tried to be careful opening the extra packet of cocoa, but the powdery chocolate puffed out in a cloud and spilled all over the table.

Lil finished the note and pushed it over to the spilled cocoa.

“Look what you did,” she giggled, blue eyes twinkling as she scooped up a handful of powder.

“Hey, I opened that for me!” Nim shouted, throwing a handful of cocoa at Lil.

Lil squealed. The two mischief-making elves spent a few minutes having a cocoa fight before they spied ribbons and bows near a beautifully decorated tree. Nim and Lil looked at each other and smiled in silent agreement on their next activity.

Nim climbed the cabinet with a container of bows and plastered them all over the walls and countertops..

“Whee!” said Lil as she laughed and zoomed around the light fixture gathering handfuls of chocolate and throwing it in the air.

“Be careful Lil, you’ll get tangled up,” Nim was grinning at the sight of her zigging and zagging through the light fixture.

The warning came too late, and Lil suddenly found herself twisted in red tinsel rope and paper snowflakes.

Nim started to laugh. “I told you!”

Lil lobbed a bow at Nim and they found themselves hurling Christmas bows and ribbon at each other…Nim getting tangled in the tinsel rope too.

“Well,” said Lil breathlessly. “I suppose this is a good place to watch the kids.”

“Yes,” agreed Nim. “We can unravel ourselves tomorrow before we fly back to Santa.”

The elves smiled and with a sparkle in their eyes, waited excitedly for the kids to wake up.

Mischief Makers Day 0: Nim and Lil’ Lil

The North Pole air sparkled with frost and the smell of cocoa and cookies floated through the air. Christmas had finally come! Nim, one of Santa’s top Mischief Makers, was rosy-cheeked and ready, He’d been busy all year planning out the mischief and mayhem for each day in December and buzzed with excitement to see his assigned kids again.

Normally, Nim was the only elf assigned to watch Joe and Jake, and report to Santa on naughty and nice behavior. But this year, Santa had a surprise for Nim. Lil’ Lil, another Mischief Maker from the beta group, was to fly with him to the house.

“But why is she coming?” Nim asked as he and Santa scarfed a couple dozen of Mrs. Claus’ sugar cookies. Nim couldn’t help but worry that he wasn’t doing a good enough job of watching the boys on his own.

“She belongs to Bella and Cheyenne, Nim. You two will have fun planning all kinds of mischief together! Ho, ho, ho!” Santa chortled.

Nim smiled, letting out an excited sigh of relief. Of course! He had forgotten that the boys’ two cousins would be at the house too. Giving Santa a final salute, Nim flew off to meet up with his new partner.

Nim and Lil’ Lil met at the North Pole Launch Pad. Nim had a bag strapped to his back…a sticky surprise for the kids nestled inside.

“Hi,” Lil said, voice full of cheer. “You probably don’t remember me, but…”

Nim bounced on his toes. “Of course I remember you, Lil! It hasn’t been that long. Now, let’s go!”

Without waiting to see if she followed, Nim sped off into the night.

Breaking News!!

North Pole Gazette
Sparkly Sprinkles

**Special Announcement**

Santa and Mrs. Clause announced the beginning of a new program sponsored by the North Pole. Known to only a select few, a Beta Test for the Elves of Christmas program was going on right under the radar of holiday cheer! 

“It was a fun time!” Nim, one of the beta testers, told the Gazette. 

“Mistakes were made,” Smarti, who will be in charge of the training program, said. “The Book will have a lot of updates before next season. I’ll see to it.”

The program was deemed a success on Christmas Eve when each elf set up a nativity scene leaving a poem and reminding all of the true meaning of Christmas. 

After several name changes…Merry Misfits, Yuletide Tricksters, and my personal favorite “Tinsel Terrors”, Santa and Mrs. Claus finally landed on an appropriate name. It is my pleasure and honor to formally introduce the new…Mischief Makers! 

Interested in joining the program? Stop by Mrs. Claus’ kitchen for a Candy Cane Cocoa to apply.