Part of the reason why is because I have a personal issue with glorifying a "Bad Elf" or a "Mischievous Elf" or whatever you want to call the little punk. Especially during the same exact season that we are constantly reminding our children that "Santa's coming soon! You better be on your best behavior!"
First of all, like we need One.More.Thing to take up our time during the holiday season! Apparently, there are a whole lot of people who just don't have enough activities and parties and school holiday events to keep you busy, but I darn sure do not have time to orchestrate the naughty endeavors of the little Shelf Elf.
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Really, the Elf on the Shelf is supposed to be our saving grace! We are supposed to tell our children the Elf on the Shelf is watching them! Every night, little Elf on the Shelf (by now, you have probably given him/her a name) flies on back to the North Pole to report behavior to Santa. When little Elfie comes back (see, I don't even have the patience to give him a creative name!), he is supposed to be "found" in a different area of the house, watching over the children.
To me, that's just a little too creepy. Look at the face on that elf! I mean, if you like this little dude being around your house, that's on you. To each his own. But, this face right here is just creepy!
It's kind of a game for the children to run around looking for where Elfie has decided to "hide" each morning. Like we don't have enough to do in the mornings! Personally, I have six kids to get onto three different buses in the morning, so looking for a stuffed Elf is not on the priority list, but that's what everyone with an Elf on the Shelf does, right?
Of course, let us not forget to move the Elf one night. Which would be me, several times each week. Oh, the horrors! Then, we would have to explain why our little Santa's helper did not fly on to the North Pole to report. I'd hate to have to get out of that one!
We are creating a very thick and juicy web of lies here. Worse than we have already created with the whole Santa and Christmas deal. I already feel guilty enough about all of the fibs I have told about Christmas and find it a constant battle to keep covering up the lies with more lies. Children are smart! They start catching onto the lies and asking questions to cut through the fibs.
Okay, which one of you actually lets your Elf on the Shelf "bring gifts" to your kids each day? Not like we haven't already commercialized Christmas enough. Let's have a stuffed Elf bring even more junk toys to our kids that will be broken before we can say, "Happy New Year!" Better, yet, let's let our Elf on the Shelf bring toys to our kids even when they are misbehaving each day! (None of us are learning a darn thing with this Elf on a Shelf escapade!)
At this point, I am wondering if you can still keep track of all of the Elf Lies or if you have lost yourself in all of this...
Then, for some reason, people are supposed to come up with scenarios for Elf on the Shelf! There are like competitions for the best scenarios, like Elf on the Shelf sitting in the bathroom sink filled with water with seven or eight bikini clad Barbies. Because even though he is watching our children's behavior, the Elf is allowed to be bad as much as he wants!
Even better? We totally stole Santa's job away from him! He's supposed to be the one watching the kids and seeing if they're naughty or nice. I mean, I understand that there are millions of children to watch, but whoever said that Elf on the Shelf could take over Santa's job description? Read the original story by Carol Aebersold and her daughter, Chanda Bell, which says that Santa sends Elves out from Thanksgiving to Christmas to essentially create the naughty/nice list.
And, really? So, after the entire year of telling our kids they have to behave, it actually boils down to the last 30 days before Christmas that their behavior is truly judged. Maybe Elf on the Shelf should be year round, then. That would make more sense!
The Santa type of Christmas has totally changed once Elf on the Shelf walks in the door of your home. Family traditions change. To be quite honest, it just seems like a whole lot more baloney to me than we really need to be putting in our children's heads about the holiday season. I mean, at some point in time, we are going to get caught up in all of these lies, and it's so hard to unravel ourselves when that happens.
Don't we tell enough lies already about Christmas? Seriously, without ever having an Elf on the Shelf in our house, I already feel like I've told a pile of lies by the time Christmas arrives.
The worst part is, all of these lies leave no room for the real meaning of Christmas. That's the Truth about Elf on a Shelf. By the time you've made it as far as hiding that little bugger somewhere every night and making up naughty little scenarios with the Elf, you have totally disregarded anything to do with the real meaning of Christmas.
And I refuse to let Christmas become any more commercialized, and not to be a scrooge or anything, but haven't we already messed the true meaning of Christmas, which from what I happen to remember is GIVING and LOVING and CELEBRATION of BLESSINGS? Haven't we already allowed Black Friday and Cyber Monday steal away enough of our holiday spirit?
Maybe it's just me, but I'm having a hard time believing that this Elf on the Shelf has anything to do with bettering Christmas at all. He won't be residing at our house or kidnapping any of our holiday traditions. I won't be adding any more lies to the assault and battery of lies that I have already told about Christmas.
It just doesn't make sense.
On the contrary, I think I'll stick with the Polar Express bell story. That's the one that I love the most, the one that brings a tear to my eye every time I watch the movie or talk about the bell with my children. They say that bell will ring forever for them, and I hope it does.
I hope they never stop hearing the bell of the spirit of Christmas ringing. That's what it's all about in our house, whether you can hear that bell or not. Not some silly Elf that takes up too much time, patience, and causes too many lies as he gallivants around the house mischievously. Like our kids don't already know how to be naughty!
Ditch the Elf on the Shelf. He's caused enough problems already. Here's to enjoying the holiday season without this stupid, wicked looking, naughty little Elf!
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