With three kids aged six, five and 18 months, Christmas is a time of high excitement in the Wipfli household.
Two Elves on Shelves have been out since November 1 – one upstairs, one downstairs. “So, they can keep an eye on them the entire time,” explains Michael “Wippa” Wipfli.
“Because the requests as they get older are a lot bigger – we’re talking about iPads and Nintendo Switches, bubble machines, blow up toys for the pool. You’re going to need to be a really good kid to get something like that.”
Christmas is a time of high excitement in the Wipfli household.
(Image: Alana Lansberry / Are Media)Christmas has always been a big part of the NOVA breakfast host’s life. Growing up, his family had, “a very themed classic Christmas room”.
“One of those rooms in the house that no one ever uses, it just sat there until Christmas. It had a fireplace and all this nice stuff and we’d always hang the stockings there.”
Wippa recalls racing down the stairs ahead of his two sisters as dawn rose on December 25 yelling, “Santa’s been!” before inevitably pondering, “How did that fat guy get down the chimney?”
Luckily for Wippa and wife Lisa, while their kids have similar questions for now the magic of Santa reigns supreme.
“Jack thinks he heard the reindeers last Christmas,” Wippa smiles.
“There are questions about people who don’t have fireplaces and things like that – but that’s the magic of Christmas, Santa can make anything happen.”
This is one of the blessings the pair continue to thank as a New Year comes around.
For while home schooling proved arduous for the pair in 2021, it also provided a priceless opportunity to create memories and adventures with their young brood.
“We’ve built billy carts, built a birdbox with a camera in it that live streams,” says Wippa. “We’ve broken the world record for the longest Hot Wheels track ever made.
The Wipfli family can’t wait for Christmas to arrive.
(Image: Alana Lansberry / Are Media)“There’s a lot more, ‘Dad, can we do this tomorrow’ instead of ‘Dad, I want to go here or there.’ It’s a lot more inclusive and it’s pushed us to be creative and come up with great ideas.
“And all of that came out of COVID because we were racking our brains of things to do around a bit of home-schooling.
“But we were lucky in that they’re young enough that they probably won’t remember the arduous part – not like those poor kids in year 12.
“We’ve worked well as a team. All that stuff, you can’t pay for it, it’s just the best. We just need to create more adventures (in 2022), that’s the plan.”
You can read this story and many others in our Christmas Issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly – on sale now.
