John-Thomas has been traumatized by his classroom's Elf on the Shelf. He is afraid of elves. We've had a couple tearful conversations about what will happen if Santa puts him on the naughty list.
Joy and I have never been the kind of parents to threaten children with no presents, so I was all comforting. I told him about how I caught Santa in my house when I was 4-5 years old (true story!) and that I have Santa's email and would have a conversation with the jolly man about how good JT is and about all the progress he has made this year. He was temporarily reassured.
So Monday I had a conversation with my father, a man well-accustomed to donning the red suit, a job he takes most seriously. I told him the whole story, reported my youngest's good behavior, and requested he be put on the nice list. Pop agreed.
Today JT was in tears again, afraid of some elf decorations we had up. I explained about elves' other jobs - like making toys and feeding and cleaning up after reindeer. That helped a little. Then I told him I had talked to Santa, reported his good behavior, and that Santa had agreed he deserved to be on the nice list.
My youngest shed a few tears of relieved joy and held his daddy tenderly and gratefully. I hope that's done it. He says he's not scared of elves anymore. If not, I may need to print out a certificate of some kind for him....