NBR: Elf on the Shelf

moonfaerie

For those with kids who celebrate Christmas, do you do Elf on the Shelf? Why or why not? For those who will be FTMs, do you plan to do Elf on the Shelf when your LO is older?

BookitBoo

We do not do elf on the shelf and don't plan on starting it. We do have a knee-hugging elf in jammies (passed down from DH's Mema) that sits in our tree. He looks a lot like the elf, but this guy is very old.

moonfaerie

We don't do it either. I don't want something else to pay attention to every day. Ha ha! I spent time considering it, trying to decide if it was worth it, but decided against it. At least for now.

robsbabygirl08

I tried it last year, DD cried because the Elf made a mess with some cereal. Lol.

Maebb

DS will be 2 on Sunday, and we haven't done it and don't plan to. The elf is creepy to me. Maybe we'll do something else when DS gets older, but I think Santa is enough.

BookitBoo

Related, kinda:

In addition to the traditional cookies and milk, We do a Santa key. (we don't have a fireplace). It explains why we celebrate Christmas and we hang it on the door Christmas Eve.

My daddy made a parchment with all of the reindeers hoof prints as signatures, and their names underneath. I'm hoping that my mom finds it and mails it to me, but in the (very likely) event that she doesn't, I'm going to try and make my own.

LadyXaverian

No, we don't and won't be doing the Elf. It's just not my style, and I don't think Nora would like it much.

BackseatDriver

I think elf on a shelf is kind of creepy. I don't plan to do it, but I feel like my son might ask eventually.

sweetdreamz6700

No interest for all the above mentioned reasons. DH wants to with this one but still...no. I just can't even

elleswarth

I don't see it as any different than the tooth fairy or even Santa. We do it and our daughter loves it. She wakes up every morning so excited to see what the naughty elves have done. (We have 2...long story. Penelope and Trixie). Here are some from last year.... and yes, I may have a little too much time on my hands.

llambrose

ExcitedMama2 said:

Apparently unpopular, but we do Elf and loveit Our elf doesn't do anything naughty though...he usually is sitting in the tree, or in a stocking, or riding on toy trains. I like seeing my son's face when he finds the elf every morning. There have been times I forgot to move him and had to run downstairs before my son to move him.

This is us. My daughter gets a kick out of finding it. Last year was our first year, she basically played on decorations and took naps her her dollhouse. I don't know what I am going to do this year, I used up my good ideas!

LooneyLife

elleswarth said:

I don't see it as any different than the tooth fairy or even Santa. We do it and our daughter loves it. She wakes up every morning so excited to see what the naughty elves have done. (We have 2...long story. Penelope and Trixie). Here are some from last year.... and yes, I may have a little too much time on my hands.

Those are a one day "thing". The Elf gets moved every night.

Maebb

elleswarth said:

I don't see it as any different than the tooth fairy or even Santa. We do it and our daughter loves it. She wakes up every morning so excited to see what the naughty elves have done. (We have 2...long story. Penelope and Trixie). Here are some from last year.... and yes, I may have a little too much time on my hands.

That's another reason why I don't do it - lazy.

Yours are pretty cute and funny, but I just don't want to give myself something else to do (and clean up after) every day.

infinity092813

I think it's cute and love seeing what other people come up with but I don't think we'll be doing it. . .we're not creative & not sure we can keep up with it everyday.

NatureLovers

I don't plan on it. I don't think it's right to tell children such elaborate lies, not to mention the whole concept is just creepy.

mmooki

I have no time for that. Plus I think it's creepy lol

kellyfo14

We love it! I use the hell out of that elf! Usually we forget to move him so he ends up going from the tree to the curtain rod and back. The elf is wearing red but my daughter named him "Blue" which I think is adorable. Our friends made a video where they recorded the elf flying away from their light fixture and out the window via fishing line. I show my 3 and 4 year old that video, I am not nearly creative enough but I hijack their creativity.

Beauxbaton

DS is only 14 months old. But We dont do it, and wont do it. I think its creepy. And unless you do it all year round I dont understand the point. Kids arent supposed to be good for just the month leading up to Christmas or whatever. And I think its creepy as hell.

longcat07

i'm team elf.  he's totally creepy, but in a funny way.  creepy voyeur elf of accountability.  DS thinks it's fun to find him every morning, although i don't do the staged things because i never have time.  he's usually hanging from the curtain rod or sitting on the hutch with his time-out toys.  sometimes in the tree or in a stocking.  i think "elaborate lies" is a little harsh.  the way we phrase it, it's not really lies...more like not telling the whole truth.  just like santa, only over several weeks instead of just one night.

NatureLovers

ExcitedMama2 said:

NatureLovers said:

I don't plan on it. I don't think it's right to tell children such elaborate lies, not to mention the whole concept is just creepy.

So, no Santa or Tooth Fairy either?

Probably not. Once they're old enough to understand I'll explain it's something fun we do to pretend, but it's not real.

southernyankeegirl

Right now I don't see us doing it. But if my kids start asking why their buddies have elves and not them, one might decide to visit our house. This is not something I have an interest in doing, but I won't say it won't ever happen in my house.

Disneygeek77

Yes we do the Elf on a Shelf.  The kids love it and are so excited to wake up every morning to see where Jinglebelle Rock is.  Sometimes she does silly stuff like play baseball with our gingerbread, but most of the time she just moves.  

DD asked me last week when she will be showing up.  

Disneygeek77

I am 37 years old and I still remember looking up in the sky on Christmas Eve and seeing a red blinking light.  I of course thought it was Rudolph and told my parents we have to head home and be in our beds because Santa was in town.  

:: shrugs ::

I don't know what point I am trying to make, I suppose I am just glad I have fun memories like that.  I know people who didn't believe in Santa still have wonderful memories of Christmas just I did after I found out the truth, but still... it was nice having that for a few years.  

elleswarth

@Mamasaurus15‌ - our elf first came when she was 4. She introduced herself and brought a small gift. She was never about behavior (as our daughter is a bizarrely well behaved/well mannered kid), but she does go back to the North Pole each night. The elf leaves Christmas Eve morning and usually leaves a parting gift and a note saying how she's had a lot of fun at our house and will see us next year. I've overheard DD telling the elf a toy she wanted but forgot to tell Santa and hoped the elf would relay the message for her. So sweet. I think it's magical and fun, and as smart as DD is, I'm sure this will all come to an end sooner rather than later, but I'm sure she will love to help continue the elf for this LO.

Disneygeek77

I think DD was almost 4 when we put out Jinglebelle.

hollydenton

We will definitely be having an elf. My mom has one for my little brother and so does my older brother for my niece. I love hearing all the stories my little brother has to share about what his elf has done.

As far as other fun traditions I will be continuing, we always woke up super early to open presents (like 1:00 in the morning). My dad would wait till we were all asleep to set out the toys and then make some huge racket like the sleigh was taking off from the roof. It was so exciting as a kid to know Santa had just left our house. We would get to open presents and play for a couple of hours before going back to bed.

Disneygeek77

Oh my how much time do you have ?

Let me think.

Well we have a historic main street in our town and they have a wonderful Christmas celebration with Christmas characters from all over the world ( I want to say there are about 30 of them ).  They also have Christmas carolers, roasted chestnuts, hot cocoa and cookies.

A local Shrine has a wonderful white light display that we always drive through.

We love to go to one house that synchronizes their lights to music

We have a pickle ornament that I hide and on Christmas morning whoever finds it gets a special prize.

On Christmas Eve, we read Twas the night before Christmas and then we put out cookies and milk for Santa and go outside and sprinkle Reindeer food ( oats with sugar ) and some carrots for his reindeer

On Christmas morning we read the nativity story.

ETA Advent Calendar.  We also do an Advent Calendar.  I knew I was forgetting something.

longcat07

@Mamasaurus15 we just started doing our elf last year, when DS was 3.  i bought it on clearance the year before, lol.

Beckyboo71

We did it for the first time last year, and DD loved it! I didn't understand when I read about the elf doing naughty things...I never had "Sprinkle" do anything bad. But I admit, I did forget to move her a few times...so DH had to make a mad dash! LOL! I think it's just a fun memory she will have, and I really don't get why people think it's creepy at all. But, to each their own!

kolaczka

NatureLovers said:

ExcitedMama2 said:

NatureLovers said:

I don't plan on it. I don't think it's right to tell children such elaborate lies, not to mention the whole concept is just creepy.

So, no Santa or Tooth Fairy either?

Probably not. Once they're old enough to understand I'll explain it's something fun we do to pretend, but it's not real.

So I am actually with @NatureLovers‌ on this one. I love christmas traditions but don't see the need to lie to the boys. We celebrate wigilia with oplatek on Christmas Eve (a tradition from my husband's family) and will open gifts on Christmas Day. But no Santa clause.

I had no idea what elf on the shelf was. It sounds strange but fun for those who choose to participate. I don't think we will pick up that tradition though.

NatureLovers

ladyamanuet said:

Elaborate lies? Come on. That's insane. Sorry. But it is.

I choose to believe in magic. The world is more fun if magic exists. I'm not traumatized because my parents pretended to be Santa and the Tooth Fairy. It was fun, and I felt like a super smart detective when I figured it out.

For those not doing Santa, I would hope you will at least teach your kids not to ruin it for other kids.

Different strokes for different folks. Just because you have good intentions to make the holidays more magical by telling those stories does not negate the fact that they're still elaborate lies, with the potential to erode trust for some kids, although certainly not all. Childhood in and of itself is inherently magical. Kids who don't believe in Santa are not being deprived in any way. I was quite young, but when I realized there was no Santa I felt lied to by my parents, and pretty embarrassed that I had fallen for something so obviously silly, at least in hindsight. Also, I think the credit for presents should go to the hard working parents who saved all year to make it happen, so the kids can have a chance to truly appreciate the sacrifice that went into buying those gifts, and give credit where it's due. And no, I will not teach my kid to go around ruining Santa for everybody else, who would teach their kid to do something like that? I don't condemn anyone who chooses to do Santa, I understand the impulse behind it, but it's not for me or my family, and that's okay. It certainly isn't "insane".

TXUltraRunner

NatureLovers said:

ladyamanuet said:

Elaborate lies? Come on. That's insane. Sorry. But it is.

I choose to believe in magic. The world is more fun if magic exists. I'm not traumatized because my parents pretended to be Santa and the Tooth Fairy. It was fun, and I felt like a super smart detective when I figured it out.

For those not doing Santa, I would hope you will at least teach your kids not to ruin it for other kids.

Different strokes for different folks. Just because you have good intentions to make the holidays more magical by telling those stories does not negate the fact that they're still elaborate lies, with the potential to erode trust for some kids, although certainly not all. Childhood in and of itself is inherently magical. Kids who don't believe in Santa are not being deprived in any way. I was quite young, but when I realized there was no Santa I felt lied to by my parents, and pretty embarrassed that I had fallen for something so obviously silly, at least in hindsight. Also, I think the credit for presents should go to the hard working parents who saved all year to make it happen, so the kids can have a chance to truly appreciate the sacrifice that went into buying those gifts, and give credit where it's due. And no, I will not teach my kid to go around ruining Santa for everybody else, who would teach their kid to do something like that? I don't condemn anyone who chooses to do Santa, I understand the impulse behind it, but it's not for me or my family, and that's okay. It certainly isn't "insane".

A lot of children "know" Santa isn't real. However part of being a child is having an imagination and fantasies. It's actually healthy for brain development. If your children pretend anything do you stop them mid play to make sure they aren't believing lies?

BackseatDriver

ExcitedMama2 said:

Any other fun traditions you guys do? Every Christmas Eve we go on an 'elf hunt' to see if we can find where the elves are getting ready for Santa. We also make reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter) and put it outside.

As kids we had a small tree and all the ornaments we made (okay my mom made) from candy. When people would come over they could take a piece. It was fun to do and my friends still talk about it.

We also had stockings that we hung on our door when Christmas decorations went up and throughout December we would find small gifts and treats in them in the morning. I like this much better than elf on a shelf because it doesn't involve a doll that is "alive" and watching you.

Finally we would go on a Santa hunt every Christmas Eve and try to see if we could find him in the sky. I think my son is too little this year, but I want to start it next year.

BackseatDriver

I don't want other kids to ruin santa for my kids, but otherwise I don't care if people decide to do it or not.

LauraNicoleE

I hate that elf. I work at Barnes and Noble and we get 100+ delivered every year and they are EVERYWHERE. They creep me out and his smile is scary. I also don't like the idea that he's a little tattletale and I'm not a fan of Christmas is all about gifts.

I plan to do a spin of the elf that I saw on Pinterest - helping fairies. They appear once a week in December and have an easy service project set out for the kids to do. I like that it gets the family working together and reminds us to help others. It can be something as simple as baking cookies and taking them to the local fire station to thank them for their service or you can do something like volunteering at a local charity.

MusicFanatic

NatureLovers said:

Elaborate lies? Come on. That's insane. Sorry. But it is. I choose to believe in magic. The world is more fun if magic exists. I'm not traumatized because my parents pretended to be Santa and the Tooth Fairy. It was fun, and I felt like a super smart detective when I figured it out. For those not doing Santa, I would hope you will at least teach your kids not to ruin it for other kids.

Different strokes for different folks. Just because you have good intentions to make the holidays more magical by telling those stories does not negate the fact that they're still elaborate lies, with the potential to erode trust for some kids, although certainly not all. Childhood in and of itself is inherently magical. Kids who don't believe in Santa are not being deprived in any way. I was quite young, but when I realized there was no Santa I felt lied to by my parents, and pretty embarrassed that I had fallen for something so obviously silly, at least in hindsight. Also, I think the credit for presents should go to the hard working parents who saved all year to make it happen, so the kids can have a chance to truly appreciate the sacrifice that went into buying those gifts, and give credit where it's due. And no, I will not teach my kid to go around ruining Santa for everybody else, who would teach their kid to do something like that? I don't condemn anyone who chooses to do Santa, I understand the impulse behind it, but it's not for me or my family, and that's okay. It certainly isn't "insane".

To the bolded- eh.

Kids don't grasp money like that. Whether or not you choose to introduce Santa to them, they aren't going to be all "wow, look at how hard my parents worked to get me this stuff!!!!!" .. I just don't recall thinking stuff like that as a child.  Our parents "get the credit" when we are adults, we grow up and have kids of our own. THIS is when we realize what our parents did for us. This is when you appreciate everything they did, how hard they worked and how much they loved you.  Not as a 6 year old on Christmas.

I'm SO looking forward to doing Santa, the tooth fairy, etc.. all that stuff.  I hold zero grudges at my parents for incorporating a lot of magic into my childhood

NatureLovers

TXUltraRunner said:

NatureLovers said:

ladyamanuet said:

Elaborate lies? Come on. That's insane. Sorry. But it is.

I choose to believe in magic. The world is more fun if magic exists. I'm not traumatized because my parents pretended to be Santa and the Tooth Fairy. It was fun, and I felt like a super smart detective when I figured it out.

For those not doing Santa, I would hope you will at least teach your kids not to ruin it for other kids.

Different strokes for different folks. Just because you have good intentions to make the holidays more magical by telling those stories does not negate the fact that they're still elaborate lies, with the potential to erode trust for some kids, although certainly not all. Childhood in and of itself is inherently magical. Kids who don't believe in Santa are not being deprived in any way. I was quite young, but when I realized there was no Santa I felt lied to by my parents, and pretty embarrassed that I had fallen for something so obviously silly, at least in hindsight. Also, I think the credit for presents should go to the hard working parents who saved all year to make it happen, so the kids can have a chance to truly appreciate the sacrifice that went into buying those gifts, and give credit where it's due. And no, I will not teach my kid to go around ruining Santa for everybody else, who would teach their kid to do something like that? I don't condemn anyone who chooses to do Santa, I understand the impulse behind it, but it's not for me or my family, and that's okay. It certainly isn't "insane".

A lot of children "know" Santa isn't real. However part of being a child is having an imagination and fantasies. It's actually healthy for brain development. If your children pretend anything do you stop them mid play to make sure they aren't believing lies?

.......

Of course I would stop them from pretending during playtime, and they would be severely punished for doing so. ::eyeroll:: Don't exaggerate and twist what I'm saying just because you don't agree.

When they're older, if they want to pretend to believe in Santa in a "wink wink" kind of way, that's fine by me. What I am strictly referring to is encouraging my kid to believe that Santa or the Tooth Fairy are real live people that actually exist, and to keep that belief going year after year even when the kid starts to doubt. I don't think that's magical, it's just plain dishonest IMO, and as a child, it certainly bothered me to find out it was all a bunch of lies. I couldn't care any less if other parents do Santa, to each their own.

Trek3

Me and my siblings "believed" in Santa until 18 years old  Getting a Santa gift and stocking was always so fun. I don't think I ever asked my parents if Santa was real, we just kept up with the tradition.

My 6 year old asks if Santa is real, and how he does what he does, etc.... I sort of leave what to believe with her, and ask her what she thinks (if he is real, how he makes it in the house, how he delivers all the toys, how he makes all the toys, did he really bite the Christmas cookie...) If she wants to believe that he is real and magic then that is all good with me. I can see that there is doubt, but that she is choosing to go along with it for the fun.

We usually give one big gift from Santa, and the rest come from us. If we don't get credit for that gift it doesn't bother me; seeing their excitement is enough.

For her first Christmas, our inlaws all decided to sign their cards as "from Santa" which really bothered me - she wasn't really old enough to know what was going on, but we asked them to just give from themselves from then on so that she would be able to thank them. Santa definitely shouldn't bring everything.

BookitBoo

I didn't lose faith or trust in my parents when I found out Santa wasn't real. A lot of parental lies made me feel better (your puppy went to live on a farm! Being a key example). I actually don't know anyone who was bitter about Santa. Mostly they thought it was fun to play along for the little guys.

Growing up there were lots of snotty know it alls who didn't believe in Santa and tried like hell to 'enlighten' everyone else. Just last year at daycare I had 3 older kids (second grade, first grade, kindergarten) telling my 4 year olds that Santa wasn't real. I've never been so angry; it is not their place IMO.

I found this when DS was born; When my children are old enough to ask questions this is how I will explain Santa being real:

BookitBoo

But I don't care what any other family does, as long as they're not assholes and ruin it for other children.

AU88

This is our 3rd year doing it and we just have the elf sit high on our tree. The kids get so excited when they see her return and although they are great kids throughout the year, they know to be good when the elf is here and it works!