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Reasons Why Our Elf Forgot to Move

This was first published in 2017, but we still use these ideas today because it’s that time of year again!  Time to reshare our Elf’s Reasons for forgetting to move… again!   Yes, even though the Elf on the Shelf’s Ideas make the kids laugh, he often forgets to move and stays put for two days in a row.   So… every year, I share this post with the reasons why our Elf didn’t move.

I hope that your Elf is less forgetful than ours. 🙂   

Elf on the shelf forgot to move
“MOM!  Gilbert (our elf) forgot to move… again!  He is STILL on the wreath on the door!   Mom?   Mom?” 
To which I now have a good response… 25, in fact.   
 If you don’t have an elf,  scroll to the bottom and you can find my affiliate link to Amazon to find an Elf on the Shelf & more. 

elf on the shelf forgot to move

When the kids wake us up to tell us that our elf forgot to move – we need to be quick on our feet to think of a reason why. Our Elf on the Shelf has great ideas, but sometimes he just sticks with the same one for two days in a row.   On his good days, he does fun things and even changes outfits, but other days… he simply forgets to move.

Here are 25 reasons why our Elf didn’t move: 

1- My friend, Holly, uses the excuse that her Elf was stuck, so they use Kitchen Tongs to move him from his spot, to pry him loose.

2- He heard someone getting out of bed right when he was about to move.   He was afraid that he would be caught, so he had to stay put!  (You have to stay in bed so that he can move!)

3- (If your child had misbehaved) – He saw you crying about ___ yesterday and he decided not to tell Santa, this time, because in this house, we give second chances.

4- He fell asleep waiting for you to go to sleep…

5- I thought that I heard some snoring coming from downstairs.  He must have fallen asleep early last night.

6- I think that I heard the TV last night- I bet he was watching a show and by the time it was over, he heard us waking up and couldn’t move.

7- You woke up too early.  This is why I ask you to stay in bed until 7:00 because he doesn’t get home from the North Pole until just before 7.

8- You’re right, he didn’t move, but I see crumbs on the counter, so I bet that he had a snack and then went back to his spot and forgot that he had already been there!

9- Maybe he thought that if he stayed there today, he would be able to hide better since you wouldn’t look there again!

10- Oh no!  It looks like his leg/arm/tag is stuck.  Let me pry him loose with a spoon.

11- I think that he stayed there because he could see everything really well.

12- “Elf, I’m sorry that we didn’t sleep well last night and you couldn’t move.  Maybe you can move while the kids are at school/lessons today.”

13- I think that sometimes he likes to move in the day because he has a hard time seeing at night.

14- I definitely heard some talking last night,  I think that his Elf friend came here, because it sounded like two elves… I bet they were talking so much that he forgot to move.

15- One year, our Elf made the kids little green pancakes.  When he forgot to move, we decided that it was because he just loved the pancakes too much to move.

16- Oh man!  I think that it was my fault.  I had to come downstairs to get a drink and I saw magic dust in the air.  I bet that he was moving until I came down.  Sorry, guys.

17- You know what?  That glue of Daddy’s was taken out of the garage.  I bet he was playing with it and got stuck.  I’ll pry him loose with a spatula.  (be sure to tell your Elf not to do that again).

18- (if you have a dog) – The dog kept staying by him and wouldn’t leave, so he couldn’t move.

19- He was sick last night  – it looks like he might have a fever.  Can you get a thermometer for me?  I’ll check.

20- Looks like he may have hurt his leg.   Let me see if I can take a look at it for you (get out the Dr. kit and give him a once over, without touching him.

WHEN YOU ARE BUYING YOURSELF SOME TIME SO YOUR ELF CAN MOVE:

21- “Hey, honey, can you run back to your room and grab a sweatshirt in case it’s cold inside today?”   Or “Can you run upstairs and see if I left my phone/keys/money in there?”  (This will buy you two minutes)

22- We need to all go look together as a family.   Let me run downstairs first to make sure that the blinds are open, first, so we can see him really well.   (Buys you 1-2 minutes).

23- Oh wait- you have to go brush your teeth (or make your bed or get dressed) before you can check on the elf.

24-  Before you look for the elf, can you hurry and make him a card?   I feel like we never make him anything and he always does fun things for us.

25- Oh man!!  What was that noise?  I think he is still moving.  Stay here while I run and check.  Don’t come down until I tell you that its clear because if you see him, he loses his magic!

#26 BONUS:  This one came from a reader & I love it:
Since Elves are used to living in the cold North Pole and our house is so warm, the elf magic disappears when they get warm. In order to recharge the magic, the elf needs to be cold so I use an oven mitt to place him in the freezer for a while.

ps… YOU ARE WELCOME TO PRINT THESE EXCUSES, TOO!

If your kids are anything like our kids (below), they are counting on the Elf moving every day, so keep these little excuses handy. 😉

Where to get an Elf on the Shelf: 

If you don’t have an Elf or you have never tried it, you can get an Elf on the Shelf here  or you can get a big plush elf (I’ve never seen this until today!
plush elf on the shelf (boy)

More Christmas Posts you might like:  

Stocking Stuffers for Kids50 stocking stuffers the kids will LOVE!
Do you want ELF on the SHELF ideas?
25 funniest elf on the shelf ideas

Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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93 Comments

  1. Our elf fell from his spot one day and two of the kids I provide daycare for touched him so when he forgets to move I tell my daughter he lost some of his magic and has to recharge before he can fly to the north pole and back.

      1. I think are elves are done with because they have not moved for 2 whole weeks and we have 7 elves that should move every day.

  2. Our elf brings notes back from Santa to remind my boys that he is watching everything. Some days Santa is too busy getting for the big day to write a note so he tells Happy Star (our elf) to stay tight and wait for a new message.

    1. Our elf does that, too!! 🙂 (brings notes home), but I love the message on your note. 🙂

  3. We told them he was sick because they touched him and he lost some of his magic. My daughter said she read on the web that he should be surrounded by a circle of cinnamon and put a peppermint on his belly. Amazingly, the next morning he was in a new spot and the peppermint wrapper was left (because the elf ate the mint)

  4. Our elf was so excited to see baby Jesus in the nativity scene he went back to spend more time with him. But he got into the fudge and cookies while we were at work/school.

    1. 🙂 So sweet!! Today our Elf is sitting with Mother Mary, waiting… 🙂

  5. There was a bad snowstorm at the north pole last night so 5he elf was told to stay put until the weather clears up.

  6. We forgot over the weekend, so I said he was in vacation just like mommy on the weekends so he doesn’t have to work. I got to leave him all weekend and the kids understood and were anxious to find him Monday 🙂

  7. we don’t have an elf at our house and my niece (who is currently staying with us) asked why… we told her that the elves only have to check up on the sometimes naughty kids so if there isn’t an elf at our house, then she must really be behaving

    1. We didn’t have an elf until Grandma bought it but then promptly said it wasn’t real. The kids seem to have forgotten that or not paid attention.

  8. i tell my 2 kids that our elf Buddy must have spent too much time at the beach (we live in Australia) while they were at school, caught a little too much sun and was exhausted from it! They always get really tired after a big day at the beach and the days have been super hot here for an elf, around 40 celcius, so they completely understand! He isn’t used to such warm weather!
    Either that or he was up all night playing minecraft on the ps4! Haha

  9. Just last night our elf didn’t move (its just been that kind of a year here! ) I hag noticed it was snowing pretty good outside so I told them it was too snowy for him to make the trip last night!

  10. We didn’t have an elf and the kids asked why. I told them that the elves were naughty and not supposed to be seen by the people in the house, so our house elf must be a good one. We had a Christmas stocking advent calendar that was filled by Santa and one night he forgot. I phoned him up and he told me that our house elf, Dusty, had put it in the wrong stocking (gave me time to put it in their named, Christmas stockings), they were chuffed and excited at the prospect of having a house elf. I then left them a couple of notes from the house elf, with a photo of him with Santa (I ‘borrowed’ it from my friend’s Facebook page, because their house-elf sent a photo of him with Santa as a goodbye note). Dusty had signed ours telling the kids that he was happy they were good.

    Next year I think Dusty will become corrupted by my daughter’s friend’s elf and make an appearance.

    1. 🙂 haha!! That’s adorable. I love that idea of a picture of him with santa- next year!!

    2. Of course and my daughter has an elf of her own but he doesn’t really move so she started crying and the next day Casper the elf was sitting on a swing and she was so happy 😁

  11. Please, pretty please with pink sugar on, tell me where you get one of these precious little elves??
    Margie

  12. I do Elfie with our 2 preschooler grandgirls………..He never forgets to move!
    He does his moving right after they leave to go home …… this way He’s ready
    for their next visit……even it’s a couple days later! Phew! Our grandgirls LOVE
    looking for Elfie……..last year we got a “blood curdling” squeal when the oldest
    spotted him! Liked to give all us adults a heart attack! LOL!

  13. When I forgot to move our elf I told the kids there was a bad storm at the North Pole and Santa told him to stay put for safety.

    1. That’s weird but didn’t the book say that no one is allowed to touch the elf ?😬😊😳

  14. I’m not as quick with thinking things up. I just tell them that the elf must not have just liked that spot. That night I wrote a special note to put with our elf explaining that he will sometimes sit in the same spot because when he finds a spot he likes he sometimes likes to stay there.

    He sometimes stays in the same spot 3 or 4 days. Thank you Grandma for buying the darn thing.

  15. What happens if you knock UR elf over so u pick it up & lay it up & it doesn’t move the next day? Did u Kill the magic? Or come there into were the elf was to much? I did go to were my elf was alot…I hope it was just me I hope she kept her magic! What’s UR opinion ?

    1. Ours fell over one day while the kids were looking at it. My 7 year old said because I am a grown up I could touch her and she wouldn’t lose her magic. So I sat her back up and they both smiled. That was a relief and I was happy to go with it.

    2. People say only if you put cinnamon around the elf and then she’ll feel better in a few days that’s what happened with my daughter when she had that problem when she touched it by accident