Bloody Elf turns up in a balloon now

[DressingGownofDoom]

I know IABU and a curmudgeon but why does everything have to be such an exhibition at Christmas? Elves can't just appear this year they have to float from Lapland in a balloon with a present I know, I know if you don't like it don't do it. That's fine but I do feel sorry for the kids whose parents don't have £15 to spend on an elf balloon and then a present on top just because it's the first of December. I thought this year might make us all step back and maybe consider a simpler celebration of Christmas but no, the social media onslaught of who can be the most ostentatious Christmas fanatic is worse than ever. I hate it.

I’ve just skimmed the article. Not one of those objections apply to our elf.

I find it bizarre that people jump straight to the most objectionable possible version of doing the elf, without seeming to realise that most people are just moving a toy around their house.

My DS hates the elf it was used in preschool last year to monitor good behaviour he wasn't well behaved he has SEN and was threatened the elf will tell Santa if he misbehaved.
He kept saying "I hate Martin he is telling Santa on me" I thought Martin was a child for weeks.

Out elf just moves around the house. He’s usually watching TV/ reading a book/ drinking a cup of tea/ drawing/ doing the washing by up/ brushing his teeth etc He isn’t naughty and he doesn’t report to Santa. The kids touch him (I know some people say you can’t touch them) but ours do and play with them in their dolls houses/ toy trains and so on. We say he comes alive at night if he’s alone so we leave him downstairs and the kids look forward to finding him the next morning in another place. It’s a little bit of magic for a few weeks and I can’t understand the problem with that really. There are so many things we do at Christmas just for fun!

@Buddytheelf85 you can do whatever you like with your kids.

As with the poster who spoke about the neglected child, the problem isn't the elf.

Well obviously I understand that the elf is an inanimate soft toy controlled by adults. But I think sometimes the things adults choose to make it do are questionable. As the Sarah Ockwell-Smith blog says, it’s weird to have an elf spying on a child for bad behaviour... whilst engaging in bad behaviour.

you can do whatever you like with your kids.

I don’t think I can actually - my kids aren’t my property. But yeah, I can choose not to do Elf on the Shelf if that’s what you mean. If I change my mind in the future I will be mindful of what I make the Elf do.

As the Sarah Ockwell-Smith blog says, it’s weird to have an elf spying on a child for bad behaviour

In my circle, absolutely no one does this.

And ‘nice list/naughty list’ has been part of the Santa myth long before the elf. Entirely up to the individual how much emphasis they put on it.

@Buddytheelf85

As with the poster who spoke about the neglected child, the problem isn't the elf.

Well obviously I understand that the elf is an inanimate soft toy controlled by adults. But I think sometimes the things adults choose to make it do are questionable. As the Sarah Ockwell-Smith blog says, it’s weird to have an elf spying on a child for bad behaviour... whilst engaging in bad behaviour.

you can do whatever you like with your kids.

I don’t think I can actually - my kids aren’t my property. But yeah, I can choose not to do Elf on the Shelf if that’s what you mean. If I change my mind in the future I will be mindful of what I make the Elf do.

But again, the problem isn't the elf. A parent who could fuck up something so innocuous probably doesn't need an elf to do it! Santa himself works on the good/naughty list.

Santa himself works on the good/naughty list

Not in my house he doesn't. Christmas presents are not connected to how good or bad my child is and I'm never going to threaten her with that.

@juniperandrage

Santa himself works on the good/naughty list

Not in my house he doesn't. Christmas presents are not connected to how good or bad my child is and I'm never going to threaten her with that.

I'm glad to hear it. Perhaps I wasn't clear. My point was that in the places where there is a problem, it's not Santa or the elf or whatever,because you could just as easily make Santa a bad guy (and the naughty/nice list is pretty established with Santa, but he gets more of a free pass than the elf).

For the vast majority of people, the elf is a soft toy that they move around because it delights the kids. A few people use the elf unwisely, but I'm pretty sure they're generally the kind of parents who don't need an elf in order to fuck up. In those cases, the elf isn't the problem and the objections are misdirected.

Not in my house he doesn't. Christmas presents are not connected to how good or bad my child is and I'm never going to threaten her with that.

This is exactly the point being made.

The concept of the naughty/nice list long predates the elf and parents reference it as much or as little as they want to.

The same principle applies to the elf.

@juniperandrage

Santa himself works on the good/naughty list

Not in my house he doesn't. Christmas presents are not connected to how good or bad my child is and I'm never going to threaten her with that.

In my house the Elf doesn't do that either. He's not spying for Santa or anything. He just comes to spend some time with her and do silly things together on the countdown to Christmas.

@juniperandrage

Santa himself works on the good/naughty list

Not in my house he doesn't. Christmas presents are not connected to how good or bad my child is and I'm never going to threaten her with that.

Same.