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Want to skip the lines to see a mall Santa? Local business lets you send an elf to your home instead

The Elves is the brainchild of owner and founder Stephen Lair, perhaps better known as the father of the Lair family, which made headlines two years ago when the video for their gender reveal went viral and eventually landed them a guest spot on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

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North Pole
By
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

An Apex-based company is offering families an alternative to waiting hours at the mall to see Santa: a personalized visit to your home from one of Santa's elves.

The Elves is the brainchild of owner and founder Stephen Lair, perhaps better known as the father of the Lair family, which made headlines two years ago when the video for their gender reveal went viral and eventually landed them a guest spot on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Lair and his wife, Cher, now have seven boys and one little girl, ages 6 months to 15 years.

"My wife and I have a gajillion children," Lair said in an interview. "For us, standing in the line at the mall to sit on Santa's lap is not a realistic possibility, especially around Christmas."

Starting on Black Friday, The Elves will send "elves" to homes in the area to meet with children.

To set it up, parents are asked to fill out a brief questionnaire online with details about the children's names, wishes, activities and more, and specify the date and time for their elf encounter. When Santa’s elf shows up, they will know things that only Santa could’ve told them and weave them into the experience for the child, according to a press release.

“Imagine the look on your four-year-old’s face when Santa’s elf knows them by name, knows what they want for Christmas, knows the name of the family dog, knows all sorts of things," Lair said.

The visits, which will run about 15 minutes each, will end by taking an "Elfie" and sending it to the North Pole for verification. Once it is officially stamped as verified, it will be sent to parents so that they can easily share the experience with friends and family online.

Lair said he came up with the idea several years ago as he grew frustrated with the traditional mall experience and learned about the Elf on the Shelf tradition from another father.

"I thought, 'wouldn't it be really really cool if somebody could show up at a house that fit into the Santa story?" he said. "That was the idea behind the concept. What if we could do something like that and save parents some time and also give kids a really amazing experience in the process."

Lair has been toying with the idea for the past four or five years, but just never got around to launching it. After all, the Lair family has been busy welcoming little ones.

But, around Christmas each year, Lair would think, "dag burn it, I didn't do it again," he said.

This year, however, is different. "This year, sink or swim, even if we just have an opportunity to visit 20 or 30 kids, it will be a lot of fun," he said. "So we're doing it."

Lair will play the role of elf at least a few times, but he's also on the lookout to hire more elf stand-ins to add to the group he already has gathered. He's looking for people with a theatrical background, experience working with kids and the ability to roll with the punches - like answering the questions of a non-believing older brother.

Lair has the infrastructure in place to ensure parents feel comfortable with the elves who visit. Lair also owns Home Instead Senior Care, which provides in-home care for the elderly. All elves will undergo checks of their references, backgrounds and driving records.

"Those are the same protocols that we put in place for our in-home caregivers as well," Lair said.

Elf encounters will run from Nov. 24 to Dec. 23. The cost will be $60 for a two-child elf encounter from Nov. 24 to Dec. 8. The price goes up to $75 for the period from Dec. 9 to Dec. 23. Each additional child is $10 with a limit of 5. Additional mileage may be charged, depending on the location. Lair intends to serve the Cary, Apex, Morrisville and Raleigh area primarily. You can learn more on The Elves' website.

Lair said his own kids are getting excited about the business.

"The older ones are excited because they've heard me talking about it for so long. They are taking little fliers to school," he said. "The younger ones are still oblivious to it all, but they keep seeing these funny costumes show up. They are getting excited about it."

They're also helping out during elf trainings and rehearsals.

"If Santa’s elf can walk into my living room and put smiles on all those faces," Lair said, "I have no doubt they are cut out for the task at hand.”

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