Be nice to the elves on your visit to Santa's Grotto — they hold all the power

As Christmas approaches, Elf on the Shelf has superseded parents as the power in the land. But what about the elves in the grottoes, the ones who grease the wheels of your annual Santa visit? Former career elf David Kent has some advice on how to handle them

Santa and some of his elves in 2004. Even with the constant jokes from Olaf, the kids that didn’t really know what was going on, the overbearing heat from the grotto to welcome people in from the cold and hearing Last Christmas every 10 minutes, I still wouldn’t have swapped being an elf for the world. File picture

Mariah Carey has been defrosted, lights are up across the country on streets and in gardens and, if you listen quietly, you can hear the thousands of stressed ould fellas wondering if it’s too early to start the dinner.

It can mean only one thing: Christmas is here (seemingly earlier than ever) and with that comes Santa’s Magical Mystery Tour — his appearances around shops, villages and parades are always looked forward to by millions.