To ask you to rethink telling your children they're being watched 24/7 by Santa's spies?

[Algor1thm]

If the elves come to your house just to mess around and have a laugh with no reporting back on behaviour to Santa, I'm not talking to you.

If you've got Elf CCTV cameras or are sending little notes from Santa with spying updates, I am.

It's just awful. Imagine if you genuinely believed your boss was spying on you 24/7 in your own home for a month every year and was going to deduct your pay if you behaved in an age-appropriate way.

The idea of santa always watching isn't a new idea....

Santa watches all year round don’t you know OP! Not just in December.

What's magical about blackmailing your children to behave themselves? As I said, I'm not judging people doing the fun aspect of the elves at all.

Technically it's bribery.

I’m with you OP. My child is a toddler and we’ve had some chats recently about how we want to do the whole Father Christmas thing. I have no issue with the folk tale of someone who delivers a present to every child. I do have an issue with behave so you’ll get presents or that someone is watching you. We are settling on Father Christmas brings one toy irrespective of behaviour because it’s a nice thing to do.

Oh and the elf on the shelf freaks me out so we aren’t having it in the house. Beady eyed fucker.

Behave or Santa won't bring you any presents

Vs.

If you behave Santa will bring you presents

I'd argue most people are going for the former. But either is horrible.

Wow!

So if we have an elf who comes to visit, brings an advent calendar, does some funny tricks around the house for fun and reports back to Santa about eating veggies etc, we are terrible parents who don’t know how to parent efficiently?! Hmm ok!

Parenting is really bloody hard! There’s no handbook telling you what to do! So these little innocent things (IMO) make things a tad easier when my son won’t eat his vegetables that I know he likes or decides he wants to get out of bed at 430am! It doesn’t mean I’m not a good parent who also cares for my child and has tried a lot of the other methods! Sometimes successfully and sometimes not.. we all need a helping hand because believe it or not, us parents need a break sometimes too so we have the energy for said parenting!

You do you and stop being so judgmental! It’s hardly child abuse.

I’ve told my kids the elves are bollocks

My sister used to be hysterical with fear about Santa coming into her room when she was asleep so her stocking was in my room, as I was excited by the prospect! All kids are different, I’m not wild about ‘you won’t get any presents if you’re naughty’ as a concept (stigmatises poorer families imo) but like many things, you need to parent the child/children you have.

You don't need CCTV or spies. Just let Elsa sort it.

Elves watching you = bad
But old man breaking into your house on Christmas Eve = good?

None of it is objectively great. I don't think it causes much harm unless parents are screaming at their children and terrifying them in other ways.

Not quite the same thing. That’s ‘he won’t come until you’re asleep’ which is actually true, I’m not sticking the stockings in until they’re down because otherwise it ruins the whole thing!

I'm one of those killjoys who told my kids Santa, Easter bunny, tooth fairy wasn't real.

I have an inate sense that lying to my children is wrong.

Overheated claptrap. The epitome of pearl-clutching.

We always said Father Christmas's special robin might be flying past and hear a tantrum, or someone being naughty! Occasionally a real robin would fly past the window too!

With Bathtubbathing. It's always made me uncomfortable.

Mine is too little for this to be applicable this year, so I have no vested interest in this. I would however like to echo previous posters and say that it is really really fucking boring and sanctimonious to be telling other people how to parent. Or should I say politely suggesting that they rethink their parenting

Merry Christmas to all.

@ReneBumsWombats no, just the horrid santa cams.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

But he also knows if you’ve been bad or good.

I agree with you OP, I think it's horrible to tell kids they're being spied on and watched 24/7. Fucking creepy

It's naff and I've never done it. I don't like telling children they'll only get toys if they're good. What signal does that send to children who are very well behaved but get nothing. I grew up with the naughty or nice, but I think the world has changed massively since the 80's. Social media and the gap between rich and poor as just two examples.

Well the elf is waiting under our stairs with a bag of chocolate coins and an advent calendar.

He will also be watching DS and sending messages to the North Pole.

Better call Childline OP.🙄

How festive. It just makes me really sad 😔