Elf on the Shelf - slightly annoyed

[Gisele]

What's wrong with a bit of mischief anyway?

 

[Gisele]

I don't have the elf on a shelf. Too much to do at this season without throwing that in the mix. I do have an elf that was given to me the year DD was adopted. A much less creepier looking elf. This one just sits on an end table during the Christmas seasonView attachment 138322

Ok... this elf thing does creep me out a bit. Lol

 

[miksilver]

When my daughter was 6, and right before the EOTS thing blew up, Santa sent her a Reindeer-in-Training for the season, just a small plush reindeer with a scarf and a big red nose. We made up all of our own "rules" and she could play with him all she liked because reindeers have different rules. He moves around, does some silly things and sometimes just doesn't feel well and stays right where she left him the night before. I think all Elf stuff is creepy. Because she has a reindeer and has had him before most of her friends got their EOTS, she doesn't mind at all that our house has different rules. It's turned out nice. Is it sometimes a pain? Yes. Do I sometimes get lazy and have him get her little toys/treats? Yes. But, do we have wonderful memories of her and Gumdrop? Most definitely.

I think in years past there's been a nice thread for simple and easy EOTS ideas on this board. I remember getting a bunch of ideas from it.

 

[CandleontheWater]

My elf sits on a shelf of the liquor cabinet- why doesn't he move, and why is half the bottle of Baileys gone? These are just mysteries of the holiday season

 

[bbak30]

I guess I'm in the minority, but we love our elves. The joy on the girls faces--it's just magical. They adore the elves we have and look forward to their arrival every year.
They aren't naughty though and just go from place to place. Every now and then we forget to move them and we say they were too tired to fly. They always buy it with no questions.

My oldest is 10 and I fear this will be the last year she will believe. Makes me sad because Christmas is so magical and special to them. They love decorations and everything that comes with it.

 

[Gisele]

But hey! What's wrong with naughty? Lol No....really!

 

[book_junkie]

What's worse is that you can now buy them everywhere. Big box stores, chain drug stores, bookstores- boxes of elves and now their PETS. I've had to stop fights in my library between kids over who was going to get presents because who had an elf.

No thanks.

 

[wilkeliza]

How is it even magical now that I'm sure kids have seen the elves everywhere? They know they can be bought. How do you explain that to your kids?

 

[Gisele]

How is it even magical now that I'm sure kids have seen the elves everywhere? They know they can be bought. How do you explain that to your kids?

Simple. They are now available in stores so it will make it far easier for these pesky little minions of mayhem reach a larger target audience.

 

[Ladcassidy]

We love "Boy Elf" and "Girl Elf" at our house. They move around every night, hide sometimes, strike funny poses, engage DD7's other toys and dolls in their adventures, bring small gifts, make minor messes (in places that are easy to clean up), and carry notes from Santa reminding DD to improve her behavior if necessary. Our whole family gets into the act. When DD was little, DH would shine a flashlight on the elves in hiding to make sure that she found them by herself. He also climbs on our roof and into trees to stage the elves. It's a wonderful part of our family's Christmas season.

Bah! Humbug! Lots of Scrooges in this thread.

 

[THEDISNEYTHREE]

Another in the minority here, we absolutely enjoy our elf. Like other posters our elf is silly, fun, mischievous and brings small gifts. My son looks forward to his arrival every year. He still talks about things the elf did several years ago. It is just added fun and memories for the holiday season.

 

[bethy]

I think that is totally cool that so many people enjoy the Elf.

 

[MPWife153]

We've ad or Elf Mickey for a few years now. I started out with lots of fun things to do with him, but now he does a few naughty things, but moves (usually) every night. BUT last Thanksgiving my MIL shows up with all these wrapped packages for my DD's (& my Niece & Nephew) - girl Elves, clothes a reindeer! So we let them play with Minnie all December - since she came from a store & not from the North Pole. My oldest DD kept saying how she hoped Santa would take her back to the North Pole on Christmas. Seriously?!?! Of course he did (what was I thinking???) This year Mickey & Minnie are just moving to new places throughout the house. I'm lucky I remember to move ONE elf let alone TWO!! But, a friend has found some cute "Why your Elf Didn't Move Last Night" that aren't because the child was naughty. Thank the Lord! So I am going to be printing out "Elf Flu" notes & "Oops, I Fell Asleep & Didn't Fly Back to the North Pole" notes - JUST IN CASE

 

[RedAngie]

Maybe I should get one. My sick mind could think of WAY more inappropriate things to do with it than these.

 

[Hrhpd]

Maybe I should get one. My sick mind could think of WAY more inappropriate things to do with it than these.

View attachment 138524 View attachment 138525

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Now I have to go get one. My adult children would so much love the "inappropriate Elf." Love the Timberlake In A Box one.

 

[scrapquitler]

Add me to the mean mum list. No elf for you. I just told DD that just like St. Nicholas, Christmas angel, etc. Not every house hold celebrates all the Santa traditions. (thank you Epcot for pointing them all out and her getting that we just don't do some things)

Same here. We never did Santa (I know, I'm horrible, whatever.) so my kids would never have thought to have an elf watching them and reporting back to Santa just because their friends did it at their house. If they had asked, I would have pulled out my Mom's old line that I heard a million times as a child "You don't have to do what everyone else is doing, If Jenna was jumping off a bridge, would you?" LOL

 

[sharona]

Well, I have a non-naughty elf update. We've been forgetting to put the elf out to arrive and my 8 year old has been looking for him the past few mornings. We went to get the elf out (we don't store him with Christmas decorations since he goes away so much earlier than the decorations do) and he's gone! Apparently my daughter caught a glimpse of him in my husbands dresser so he moved him to a safer place. And forgot about the safer place.

So now I'm facing either blowing the entire Santa thing or blowing 30 more bucks on this thing. And she really loves Santa!

Every year I forget where I put the Elf the previous year! I always put him somewhere that I think I won't forget. Having him go back to the N. Pole w/ Santa on Christmas Eve is really inconvenient!!!!

I once picked up the stupid elf with barbecue tongs when he fell over . Also when my son was about 5 he ran to me hysterical (and I was in the shower no less) because he touched the elf and then felt bad and thought the elf lost his magic forever. I thought fast and told him to run the elf to to the freezer. I told him the North Pole like environment work recharge the magic just this one time.

Awesome quick thinking!

I'm THAT parent that is happy when my kid is over Santa. Seriously, it's so much easier. My 15 year old was about 8 I think and I was so happy. LOL Now my little guy is going to be 9 in January and I think he STILL believes...as in actually does and not faking it to keep it going. LOL I am so ready for him to be over it.

My DD12 (1 month shy of 13) still wants to believe or at least she pretends to believe and I still pretend right back. We usually look at each other and twinkle when we talk about Santa. I'm sure on her part it's partly a way to get more gifts!!! When we were children, my older brother and I made our youngest brother pretend to still believe for 2 extra years...

What's wrong with a bit of mischief anyway?

Absolutely nothing - as this pic that I stole off of Facebook will surely illustrate:

I guess I'm in the minority, but we love our elves. The joy on the girls faces--it's just magical. They adore the elves we have and look forward to their arrival every year.
They aren't naughty though and just go from place to place. Every now and then we forget to move them and we say they were too tired to fly. They always buy it with no questions.

My oldest is 10 and I fear this will be the last year she will believe. Makes me sad because Christmas is so magical and special to them. They love decorations and everything that comes with it.

We love our elf too. My DD named him Elfus Maximus (Max for short). Our elf isn't really naughty but he does overdo it if anyone leaves candy laying around.

We love "Boy Elf" and "Girl Elf" at our house. They move around every night, hide sometimes, strike funny poses, engage DD7's other toys and dolls in their adventures, bring small gifts, make minor messes (in places that are easy to clean up), and carry notes from Santa reminding DD to improve her behavior if necessary. Our whole family gets into the act. When DD was little, DH would shine a flashlight on the elves in hiding to make sure that she found them by herself. He also climbs on our roof and into trees to stage the elves. It's a wonderful part of our family's Christmas season.

Bah! Humbug! Lots of Scrooges in this thread.

We do some funny poses but not every night, only when Mommy isn't too tired! Mostly he just sits around watching football. The dog is not a big fan of the Elf so he has to be up high.

 

[Funfire240]

We have an elf that isn't too crazy (except now DS5 is upset because our elf is a girl - which DD7 tells him it's because she's older!). I told him one elf per house.
Only problem now - the pet reindeer! DD went looking for ours this morning and came back into my room crying - she asked "Jessica" yesterday if she would bring a pet back with her and there was no pet today! I told her maybe it's because Santa knows her dad and I said no more pets in the house.

 

[DisneyOma]

Wow, kinda mean. That would be like a mom saying you better be worried if you didn't get one because Santa must not like you. Why make it that dramatic and nasty.

I have never seen something cause such extreme reactions. Some of the haters are just as overboard as the people crafting scenes for 40 minutes every night before bed. The elf is cute, but if you don't like it don't get it. We have had it for 6 years and with my youngest being 5 imagine it will be 6 more before we are done. The kids think it's funny, their excitement and giggles looking for it make the 2 minutes I spend with it a night worth it. He usually plays usually one prank a week, unless im feeling ambitious. He leaves their advent calendar the day he comes and one small special treat one other time. The pranks aren't nasty or mean spirited. Last year he had his face in an Olaf picture, took a marshmallow bubble bath, tp'd the tree and other silly things.

I personally think there are nicer ways to explain why you don't have one besides making it out like all the kids who have them are "bad" and need it. I don't really buy into or even reference that part of the Santa story. I don't see why if a child wanted one so badly you felt compelled to make up a story to make it sound like it was negative or a bad thing you wouldn't just 1. Get one and do the bare minimum or 2. Take responsibility for not wanting it.

If I didn't want to celebrate Halloween I wouldn't say that all kids who participate believe in evil spirits and the devil to make my kids no longer want to go trick or treating. We don't do the leprechaun traps and I don't explain it away by making it a negative thing for those who do choose to participate.

But if the premise is that he's there to watch you for Santa, then Santa's got to be a bit suspicious that you are a misbehaver and close to being on the naughty list!

 

[nugov2]

But if the premise is that he's there to watch you for Santa, then Santa's got to be a bit suspicious that you are a misbehaver and close to being on the naughty list!

Maybe in your house. Our elf doesn't roll that way, but to each their own. If some kid told my kids that their mom said that she/he didn't need an elf because they weren't bad and only bad kids needed them they'd simply inform them that their elf isn't a spy, but a friend of Santa who isn't watching how good or bad they are. They are here to spread Holiday magic and to encourage them to spread Christmas cheer all month long. Through his fun and silly antics and his kindness calendar it is a fun tradition we enjoy. Not everyone focuses heavily on coal and naughty children not getting gifts.

I guess that is the story you can tell your kids if that is the way you celebrate your Christmas by viewing Santa as a reward or punishment, but we do not. I still think it is a poor way to explain why you don't have an elf when you are basically telling your child the majority of their friends or a good number anyway must be so bad they need an elf. Just seems odd