Saying goodbye to Hermie

Today was Hermie's last day with us.  Tonight is he suppose to fly back with Santa to the North Pole and then he will come again next year.  I will have to say, I'll miss Hermie.  He has been a fun addition to our Christmas tradition and the kids just loved finding him every morning.

 

Since he was so special to the kids, I wanted to do something fun for his exit.

 

 

 

Last night, I wrote a little note to accompany his hiding spot.  Here's what it said:

 

"Dear Abigail, Jacob and Hannah,

Today is my last day,

I must say good-bye,

Tonight I must go

to the North Pole I'll fly.

But Santa will be here

with gifts and good cheer,

and I'll be back again next year.

So remember to behave and take care of yourselves,

and remember all the fun times you had with me, Hermie the Elf!"

 

and just for an extra special touch, on the bottom I added:

 

"at 12:00, Santa will lift my magic, only for a few minutes, so you can pick me up and say good bye!  Remember to say the magic words: Snowflake, snowflake, snowflake!"

 

So all morning, the kids were anxious for noon to come.  Finally, at 12:00, we got to hug Hermie and say good-bye.

I cannot express how excited and nervous they were.

Pure joy.

Abby was nervous and didn't want to hold him for too long!

One last picture with The Herm!

Then tonight, we said our final good-byes.  They seemed to have mixed emotions about him leaving, expressing how much they will miss him.  I explained that now was the time for Hermie to go on vacation with his elf friends so that seemed to help!

Next to Santa's cookies, Hermie is leaving these chocolates and coloring pictures of himself!

He left a note saying how much he will miss the kids until next year :)

 

Merry Christmas Hermie. We will miss you!  Tell Santa hi from the Thomas Family.

 

Now it's back to following up with my own consequences for bad behavior...great ;)