the little elves

This is a story about the little elves that help Santa by taking care of the reindeer all year long so they will be ready to pull his sleigh on Christmas Eve.  You may think that taking care of reindeer isn’t that hard.  Well, don’t ever let one of the elves hear you say that, especially Buddy, the head reindeer elf who is in charge of all the other reindeer elves.  If you said that to Buddy, he would stomp off in a huff, mumbling to himself, because he knows that taking care of reindeer is a lot of work.

There are twelve reindeer that live in the reindeer barn, so just keeping all the reindeer’s stalls clean is a big job.  Plus, they all have to be in real good health to be able to pull Santa’s sleigh that weighs a ton with all the toys and other presents that are on there, so Buddy and his team must make sure that they eat only the right food and get plenty of exercise all year long.  They also have to be washed and combed every day and their antlers have to be polished and buffed too.  So if anyone says taking care of reindeer is easy, they couldn’t be more wrong.

You are probably thinking, why do they have twelve reindeer when only eight are used to pull Santa’s sleigh?  Well the extra four reindeer are in training as backups.  They need to know how to pull the sleigh just in case one of the regular reindeer gets a cold or has a sore hoof and can’t fly on Christmas Eve, there will be another reindeer who would be able to fill in.  Buddy doesn’t want to take any chances that something will delay Santa getting the presents delivered to all the children on Christmas Eve.  He even has backup harnesses and jingle bells for all the reindeer in case something happens to the regular ones.  Buddy is not taking any chances at all.  By the way, can you name all eight of the reindeer that are on Santa’s usual sleigh team?

Now let me tell you about the cute little town in the North Pole where Santa, Mrs. Claus and all the elves and their families live.  In the very center of town is the oldest pine tree that is decorated with brightly colored lights, big ornaments and shiny garland all year long.  Around the town pine tree are the elves’ cottages and right in the middle of all the cottages is Santa’s house.  Santa, being the mayor and main citizen of the North Pole, lives in a large, comfy and cozy castle made of logs and cobblestones with his wife, Mrs. Claus. 

The elves’ houses, stores, schools and other buildings are much smaller than Santa’s house, but then again, the elves are much smaller too, so everything is just the right size for them. Elf families are just like your family.  Moms, dads, grandelfs, aunts, uncles, cousins and the whole town takes very good care of the little ones and each other too.  The elf kids go to school just like you do and when they graduate, they usually go to work for Santa.  Some of them open their own business because elves need things like we do.  They need groceries and shoes and coats and all sorts of things, so lots of stores are needed.  All the elves are so happy living at the North Pole that none of them ever leave to go to the big city.  They have everything they need right there.  They love Santa and are so happy they can be a part of helping to make Christmas special for children everywhere.

Everything that goes on in the North Pole all year long is just to get ready for Christmas.  All the work that Santa and the elves do is done to make your Christmas a very happy one.  One of Santa’s big jobs is to read all the letters that the children send him throughout the year, telling him what they wish they can get for Christmas.  Now that is a lot of letters that Santa has to read and it takes a lot of time.  The elves are always busy too, making candy and treats that will go in Christmas stockings, and of course, they are very, very busy making all the toys, wrapping them and adding them to the big red bag that will go on the back of Santa’s sleigh.

There are teams of elves that are in charge of all kinds of different jobs.  Like Buddy and his team that we already learned about, there is also a team that keeps Santa’s sleigh in good shape.  If you look in the barn garage where Santa's sleigh is kept, you will find Holly, the elf in charge and the rest of the sleigh team elves.  They are always busy because there is a lot of work that goes into taking care of the sleigh.  They have to be absolutely sure that the sleigh is in its best tip-top shape and is ready for the long trip Santa makes on Christmas Eve. 

Holly and her team polish the sleigh runners until they shine like a mirror.  They also have to make sure that the carpet inside the sleigh has no rips or worn out places in it, and if it does, they have to put a whole new red carpet in. It has to be the right color of red, of course, so that it will match the red sleigh and Santa's red suit.  Next comes the seat that Santa sits on.  It especially has to be in real good shape because Santa sits on it for many hours delivering his gifts on Christmas eve. It has to have just the right amount of plumpness in the cushion, and if it doesn’t, then they need to add more stuffing.  The sleigh needs to be freshly painted each year too.  They also take care of the reins that will attach to the reindeers’ harnesses so Santa can steer them the way he needs to go.  It is very hard steering eight reindeer at one time, but Santa is very good at it because he has been doing it for a very long time.

I bet you didn’t know that Santa is not alone on his Christmas Eve trip.  The head elf of all elves, Cookie, always rides with Santa.  Cookie is there to make sure that everything goes ok, so if there is a problem, like one of the steering reins breaks, or a jingle bell falls off, it would be Cookie’s job to fix it in a hurry.  So far Santa has never had to use Cookie to fix anything broken because everything always works just like it should.  All the elf teams alway do such a good job on his sleigh and taking care of the reindeers’ gear, that Cookie has never had to fix anything, but it still is good to have him there, just in case.

I hope I gave you at least a little idea of what goes on at the North Pole. I’m sure that I could tell you a lot more stories about the elves and Santa.  I’m sure I could write a whole book just about Santa and another whole book just about the elves.  We are all very lucky to have Santa and all his little elves.

By the way.  How many of the eight reindeer could you name?  I will give them to you and see if you were right.  Here’s the list:

                                       Dasher

                                       Dancer 

                                       Prancer 

                                       Vixen

Comet

                                       Cupid

                                       Donner

                                       Blitzen

How many did you get?  As many times as I have said their names, I seem to never remember them all.  I hope you had better luck and that you enjoyed remembering all of them.

Oh, and by the way, I didn’t forget Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer.  In case you forgot, he was the reindeer that saved that one Christmas Eve when it got so foggy that Santa couldn’t see the houses.  Rudolph saved the night by using his special nose that lit up.  It was so bright that Santa could see where he needed to go through the fog. Rudolph was a big hero that Christmas Eve and many other Christmas Eves when the weather wasn’t the best and Santa needed a light to see where he was going.  We should all be thankful to Rudolph and his bright red nose for making it possible for Santa to deliver presents on Christmas Eve, even when the weather was bad.  Thank you so very much Rudolph! Do you think Rudolph will have to light up the way this year again if the weather is foggy?

Now it’s time to say goodbye.  I hope this Christmas Santa brings you lots of nice presents.  Remember to always be nice so you stay on the Nice List!  Merry Christmas to you all!