We use the elf a little different than the book. Our elf arrives the night of thanksgiving while our daughter is asleep. He shows up with a small toy, dollar store or something very small, and then leaves every night to visit Santa and tell him how the day went. When he comes back the next day he drops of a small toy and shows up in a different place. We find this calms down the excitement from the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Christmas Eve's gift is always Christmas PJ's and a good bye note. Yes she does get a gift every night but it something simple as a new pencil for school to even just a note of encouragement for something that may have happened that day.