CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — Santa is about ready to visit all the good boys and girls, and he knows who has been bad and good thanks to the many elves on shelves across the globe. But three of his helpers have been causing quite the commotion in Chesterfield and mom has been documenting all their mischief.
Mindy Carney never thought her photos of what the elves have been up to in her home would go viral.
Carney, an ER physician assistant, has three elves staying in the house this month: Hot Dog, Sprinkles, and Cutie Pie. All were named by her three kids who are 3, 6, and 8 years old.
"I didn't expect anyone to see this, and now it's gone viral I guess," said Carney. "Somebody use that term, and I was like, me? Like I'm not a go viral kind of person."
If you're not familiar, in some homes with little ones, an elf might appear on Dec. 1 to keep an eye on the kids. Each night they fly home to the North Pole and report back to Santa. Then, when they come back, they land in a different spot, sometimes causing some trouble!
Carney has been sharing the elves' antics on her social media and some "Elf on the Shelf" groups on Facebook. One of the posts getting the most attention on social media is what the elves did to Carney one night. They decided to give her a little trim but didn't quite get all the way done.
"So the elves only cut half of my hair, because I was sleeping on my side, so they cut this half off and left this half long," said Carney.
And usually what the elves do has to stay put for the day.
"I had to go to school, to the office. I hosted a breakfast for the teachers with half of my hair done," said Carney. "I went to the post office, the passport office, Walmart, Walgreens, the gym. I had a lot to do that day."
But the elves did explain to Carney's three kids that it was for a good cause. After a trip to the salon the next day, Carney ended up donating 14 inches of her hair to an organization called Children With Hair Loss.
The elves have played several pranks, including giving dad a makeover and getting mixed up in some kitchen equipment.
Even though the elves seem to take a lot of time planning these pranks, and can cause some chaos, Carney said it's all worth it.
"Seeing the joy in their eyes is what it's all about so it's been really exciting to see the magic of Christmas through the kids," she said.
Take a look at some of the other shenanigans the elves have gotten into at the Carney household:
