Elf on the shelf is shit, isn’t it?

[MustardScreams]

I’m being ridiculed at work for not doing this for dd. Apparently I’m ‘ruining the magic of christmas’

It’s ridiculous though! Who has the time and energy to think up bonkers things to do with an elf for 25 frigging days?! Surely the magic of presents and Santa is enough ffs. Also it’s just playing into commercialism blah blah rant rant rant.

Personally I don’t like the idea of indoctrinating my kids into believing they’re constantly being watched and any undesirable behaviour will be noted and punished. Also the elf is creepy as hell. Who wants a sneaky little grass in their house who dobs them in to Santa?

I completely agree. It's sinister and creepy and yet another marketing ploy for gullible parents. Clearly makes a lot of money for someone 😳☹️

I completely agree. It's sinister and creepy and yet another marketing ploy for gullible parents. Clearly makes a lot of money for someone 😳☹️
Bringing up kids in the spirit of constant surveillance

Bringing up kids in the spirit of constant surveillance

That’s no different to Santa though.

And like Santa, doesn’t have to be a part of it unless you want it to be.

What is elf on the shelf? I've never heard of it.

@GetUpAgain that is a brilliant idea. I too have teenagers so I can see myself buying an elf this year. I can post on Facebook when the elf sits sadly on the plate left on the sofa, the dirty clothes left on the floor next to the laundry bin, the dirty mug collection piling up in their bedrooms etc..

It's creepy. I've never done it and it wasn't a thing until about 5 years ago so not sure how not doing it can be 'ruining the magic of christmas'.

An advent calendar is sufficient

Hallelujah, the voice of reason 👏🏻

I don't get the elf on the shelf. Are children supposed to believe they are real elves, even though they are clearly dolls?

How come they are for sale in the supermarket?

How come they are allowed to be naughty but the children aren't?

Whilst the little buggers are wreaking Havoc in homes who's making all the toys at The North Pole?

So many questions 😩

Just when you thought you were safe for the rest of the year - there’s a birthday Elf as well.

Good grief - its enough pressure to remeber to get the birthday bunting out & up! #FuckTheElf

its a bit weird to be honest- we didn't do any of that growing up!! I had my stocking at the end of my bed for Christmas eve, and the plate of cookies/carrots and a glass of baileys left out for santa! (later turned out it was my great nan, which was why we'd started using baileys instead of milk!! now we just have a mini baileys party on Christmas eve instead after my nan and great nan get back from midnight mass to pick my nans dogs up!!

I hate it. My sister had a version when my DN was young (a bit before Elf on a Shelf) and they had a cute cuddly elf toy that would visit (not the creepy ones they have now) who would keep an eye and then go back to the North Pole a few days before Christmas to confirm if he was on the 'nice' list.

The elf didn't get moved, unless DN carried it off around the house or DSis was cleaning.

It all just seems to much hassle these days.

more pressure on parents which they could do without plus a social media show off. glad he was not about when my kids were young and what is that rubbish of an elf cam? freak kids out think they are being watched

YANBU. Kids have experienced a ‘magical ‘ Christmas for decades without this creepy bollocks.

Consumerism isn't about how many pennies you spent. 11 million elves have been sold. 11 million things we didn't need which will end up on a landfill or in the ocean. I'm willing to bet the little bugger is mixed materials, which means no recycling for him.

I learned my lesson with the toothfairy who left a beautifully crafted, sparkly letter with the £1 for every tooth. A different named fairy for each kid. I'm not dropping myself into the fucking elf trap.

Consumerism isn't about how many pennies you spent. 11 million elves have been sold. 11 million things we didn't need which will end up on a landfill or in the ocean. I'm willing to bet the little bugger is mixed materials, which means no recycling for him.

My elf is cloth and in terms of satisfaction for pennies spent he is right up there among the best things I’ve ever spent on.

My DS asked me why we didn’t have an elf. I told him Santa knows which children are a bit naughty and need an elf checking up on them and he didn’t see the need to send an elf to our house as DS was a good boy. Also told him not to tell his friends as we didn’t want to embarrass them. He did report back to me a few times when he found out which friends were naughty enough for elves

My DS asked me why we didn’t have an elf. I told him Santa knows which children are a bit naughty and need an elf checking up on them and he didn’t see the need to send an elf to our house as DS was a good boy

I don't give a shit what people do and whether they have elves or not but that's really awful to basically tell your son anyone who has an elf is naughty

Well I think it's genius

Our gnomes are also cloth, they have been used for five years now.
They are one of the least consumerist bits of Xmas.
It is absolutely fine to not want a bar of hiding soft toys around your house for a month but that doesn't mean that people who do have been taken in my a consumerist plot.
It just means they like different things to you.

We explained to our dc years ago that our Xmas gnomes are so naughty that Santa sent them to us so we could keep an eye on them for Santa.
Now my dc are in secondary school and the magical belief has finished. I don't regret a minute of the effort I put in.
Even if sometimes I was lying peacefully in bed after a long day at work and had to jump up and move the blinking things.

What do people tell their kids when they see an elf in a shop? Surely that makes it less magical.

The present every day thing has got to be a wind up.

I don’t mind it for little ones but don’t like the constant posting by adults on FB showing the Elf with his head in a line of sugar or whatever. Tedious

Who cares? Do it if you want and don't if you don't want. How do people get into arguments about this stuff really? Just because you don't want to do something doesn't make it shit, it just makes it something you don't want to do.

I do Christmas Eve pjs for my boys. They go for a shower, Santa leaves a package on their bed, when they get out of the shower they find the package and shout "oh muuum Santa's been" 😁 they are 18 & 21 😂. We love it, we don't care what anyone else does.

Do what you want a let others do theirs - smile and nod the things you don't like.

It is absolutely fine to not want a bar of hiding soft toys around your house for a month but that doesn't mean that people who do have been taken in my a consumerist plot.

I totally agree.

There’s always such a pile on on here when it’s mentioned, yet I don’t see any thing objectionable about how we (and lots of people we know) do it - ie no surveillance, no SM, no expenditure beyond one cloth elf.

It’s basically just a soft toy you move around your house. Why the vitriol? It gives us a lot of joy.

Not that I think people should do it if they don’t want to. Your house, your family, do what you like.

Just because you don't want to do something doesn't make it shit, it just makes it something you don't want to do.

Exactly

It’s a little bit shit though tbh.