We are now in the fourth year of participating in the much-anticipated by children, and highly-despised by parents, Elf on the Shelf tradition. I don’t use the word hate for a lot of things, but when it comes to this marketing success story, I hate it.
When this product came out several years ago, I knew it was something I wanted no part of. My husband and I agreed not to get one. We even told our daughter we wanted no part of it. Well, as kids often do, she had other plans. In fact, it was quite sneaky and smart how she went about securing the elf she now refers to as Shelby.
Every year, grandpa gives her a certain amount of money for Christmas and takes her shopping without us. That year, she used her money after Christmas to get an Elf on the Shelf for 50% off. She then talked all year about how next Christmas we would have Shelby with us.
It felt wrong not to do it given her excitement about him, and the fact that she did manage to get one with her own money and planning.
Amy is now 11. But, her age doesn’t matter. She still believes in the elf and continues to want to participate. Thanksgiving night, my husband woke me up asking where the elf was stored. He said he just remembered he had to hide it. Annoyed partly because it was 3 in the morning, and because it was about that dumb elf, I mumbled something about it not being a big deal and she won’t notice.
I was wrong!
My husband did the parental thing and hid Shelby. Again, he was posted on the shelf outside her room where he has been for several nights. It’s a good thing he did. At around 6 a.m. our daughter was walking throughout the house looking for Shelby.
Let’s be clear, I don’t hate the elf because its work for my husband and I to remember to move him for an entire month. Although, I can’t stress enough how much I hate doing it. You’d be amazed at how often Shelby likes that spot on the shelf near my daughter’s room. We say he loves the view.
What I hate about Elf on the Shelf is what it is supposed to mean. Are we so bad as parents now that we need that so-called ‘magical’ elf to be in our homes every year to make sure our children are good? After all, he reports back to Santa.
Isn’t the magic of Santa enough? Or, aren’t we able to make our children be good without the process of a reward?
To make it worse, our toddler is now getting old enough to understand Christmas. We have really pushed Santa this year, but to say I keep quiet about that elf is an understatement.
I made no mention of him to our toddler, and frankly, am hoping our daughter says nothing about him either. Let the magic end with her, because frankly, I don’t need that stuffed, creepy doll of a marketing success to help anymore.
Back To Parenting 