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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that this mother is disturbed and needs help?

126 replies

IrisAtwood · 04/12/2020 08:26

A woman laid chicken bones and ketchup out with an Elf on the Shelf hat so that it looked like a Grinch toy had eaten him. Her five year old was distraught and is now frightened of the Grinch. She thought it was funny.

metro.co.uk/2020/12/03/mums-grinchy-elf-on-the-shelf-prank-goes-wrong-and-leaves-son-in-tears-13696898/

OP posts:
OoohTheStatsDontLie · 04/12/2020 09:05

I think she made an error of judgement, and because she found it funny (as do i, as an adult) she assumed her child would. I think that firstly the truth will be stretched to make it into a story for the paper (he was a bit upset until he saw that the elf was ok, wouldn't really be a story, would it) and also using this one incident to say she is disturbed and needs locking up etc is completely over the top.

orangecinnamon · 04/12/2020 09:06

Elf thing is creepy af in the first place -his face! . There are a lot of people at the moment doing stuff like this with their elves and posting on Instagram. Not doing it for the kids are they?

nemeton · 04/12/2020 09:07

An 11yo would probably think it was genius, but probably 99% of 5yos would be distraught. If I'd done it, I certainly wouldn't be telling the world about how it had gone down like a lead balloon.

OoohTheStatsDontLie · 04/12/2020 09:08

Maybe she was inspired with all the 'buy a whole chicken and get 10 meals out of it's stuff on mumsnet and wanted to take it a bit further

CantStandMeow · 04/12/2020 09:08

The chicken bones and ketchup elf thing has been doing the rounds on fb for years. It's mildly funny as a picture to send to a friend, not funny for a 5 year old. Certainly not news.

movingonup20 · 04/12/2020 09:08

@GreyishDays

The whole elf thing is for social media. No idea when it started but it certainly wasn't around when my kids were young, pre smartphones (we had a film camera, remember those???)

SchadenfreudePersonified · 04/12/2020 09:09

Elf thing is creepy af in the first place -his face!

It certainly is creepy. I just don't like the principle of it to start with.

Bakedcrinkly · 04/12/2020 09:09

Similar poor parenting to a woman I have as a ‘friend’ on SM who thought it was hilarious to inject English Mustard into a pack of jam doughnuts for her boys who are 7 and 9.

She thought it was sooooo funny as did a lot of her friends. Personally I thought it a mean and cruel thing do. I was disgusted and saddened that people could be like this to their children.

CloudyVanilla · 04/12/2020 09:10

Elf on the shelf is so weird to me they are so creepy.

But this is fucking horrible. How cruel. I despise parents who think it's 'cool' or funny to play adult centric jokes or pranks on kids. It's cringey and in cases like these again, cruel.

Kissthepastrychef · 04/12/2020 09:10

She wants locking up!
Just the teensiest overreaction there

MaskingForIt · 04/12/2020 09:14

Goodness me, with an attitude like that it is no wonder she is a single parent. What a cow.

BadTattoosAndSmellLikeBooze · 04/12/2020 09:14

The mother is clearly a bit dim and attention seeking. It’s funny for adults but not appropriate for a 5 year old. It’s got her some attention though so all good. 🙄 Her comments just seem very immature, hopefully she’ll grow up soon.

sadie9 · 04/12/2020 09:17

The Elf on the shelf is an appalling idea for kids. It's gaslighting for kids and should be abolished.
People wouldn't do it to their elderly mother with dementia - deliberately move something in her house for their own amusement.
The Elf on the Shelf is bad. It only teaches them that irrational fears could be real.

GreyishDays · 04/12/2020 09:17

[quote movingonup20]@GreyishDays

The whole elf thing is for social media. No idea when it started but it certainly wasn't around when my kids were young, pre smartphones (we had a film camera, remember those???)[/quote]
Well yeah. (And life in general these days?) We do it in a low key way (he hides every night and doesn’t spy on the children and report back) but I don’t parade it all over SM.

Whatnext2018 · 04/12/2020 09:17

Poor kid..awful thing to do.

Out of interest, why do some think Elf on the shelf is disturbing? I don’t do it..yet, my Dd is still quite young, but a few I know do.

Whatnext2018 · 04/12/2020 09:19

Why is it gaslighting?

So, the elf hides every night and the child has to find him in the morning, is that the idea?

LindaEllen · 04/12/2020 09:21

My friend does 'dark elf on the shelf' to make her older teens laugh, and this is the kind of thing she would do. But for a 5yo who thinks it's real? No.

Jumpingjosephene21 · 04/12/2020 09:22

Horrible to do this to your own child then laugh at his distress. He will remember this for years. The mother needs to grow up.

What odd views about elf on the shelf though. It's a bit of fun. My ds is 9 and still loves it. I can't be arsed with all the elaborate stunts so ours just moves position every night and ds wakes up each morning excited to find him. I suspect it won't last many more years so I'm enjoying the Christmas magic with him while it lasts.

If you don't want to do it fine but calling it gaslighting for kids is bonkers 😂 lighten up.

curtainsfort · 04/12/2020 09:23

A picture of this scenario has been doing to rounds on Facebook for years. I can't imagine for a minute what made this woman think her child would find it funny. The joke is obviously for adults doing EOS.

lioncitygirl · 04/12/2020 09:25

I mean - the whole concept of a damn elf moving from place to place scares the shit out of me - but even I am disturbed this woman did that to her child - seems pretty mean to do to one so young. I would never to that to my two for sure! Yikes. And then to go onto a national newspaper to brag about it so people can see how mean it was?! Insane.

GreyishDays · 04/12/2020 09:25

@Whatnext2018

Poor kid..awful thing to do.

Out of interest, why do some think Elf on the shelf is disturbing? I don’t do it..yet, my Dd is still quite young, but a few I know do.

The original idea is that he reports back on your child’s behaviour to Father Christmas.

(We don’t do that.)

Simplyunacceptable · 04/12/2020 09:26

She misjudged it. I don’t think she’s deranged or evil, I just think she made a poor call here (which parent hasn’t?!).

WelliesWithHeels · 04/12/2020 09:27

Parents "pranking" their kids in a sad attempt to get attention on social media is one of the most pathetic things ever.
The worst are the YouTubers where it was thinly disguised child abuse and led to children being taken from their awful parents.

Goldensnitchy · 04/12/2020 09:30

Why is an elf moving places every night disturbing? Or is there something I’m missing (I mean generally, aside from this bones thing)

Dannydevitoiloveyourart · 04/12/2020 09:31

This is the kind of thing I’d have done when I was age 7-10 to my siblings. Pretty sick to do it to your own young child. At 5 years old he won’t have had any previous exposure to corpses and grisly scenes in children’s programming so it’s sad his first experience of that is perpetrated by his mum and anchored to Christmas.