Ah, for the good old days — just a few short years ago — when the grandkids were one, two, and three. Christmas shopping was a breeze! I couldn't make a bad choice.  Everything I picked out and brought home was perfect.

"Mom, I love the matching dresses!" one daughter…

The Elf on the Shelf, the book with a magical creature who watches children all day then flies back to the North Pole and reports to Santa every night, is a hot item—2.4 million of them have sold in North America alone.   But just eight years ago every major…