AIBU to have primary-aged children, and not do the elf...

[FlourandFlowers]

AIBU to have primary school-age children and not do the elf or December boxes?

YABU - It's common-place now, and your children will inevitably feel left out tomorrow.
YANBU - Your children will be absolutely fine.

This is exactly it. Loads and loads of Christmas 'traditions' exist
No two families will ever be exactly the same, even if they do the same thing
DH and I both did Xmas eve 'plates' as kids. He put out whiskey, a mince pie and raw sprouts
We put out milk, a biscuit and a carrot
Same tradition, different approach
Just pick the bits you want to do and don't worry yourself following influencers on social media. They get paid for likes and sent merch to set up elaborate stunts
95% of people literally just pose an elf doll being a bit cheeky. It's not that deep
It's supposed to be fun. If you're feeling pressured and stressed, don't do it

DS is 10 and I have never done it. He was never mentioned it either

My in laws bought an elf for us a few years ago, i quite enjoy it now. It’s a bit of fun plus helps get the kids out of bedroom on cold dark mornings.

Never done the elf here. I've never felt that I'm inadequate, my feelings when I see the elf posts is of relief I don't have to bother with it. We don't do Christmas eve boxes either.

My children love Christmas and have never told me they feel having no elf has ruined it. I did ask my older two if they ever wished they had the elf and neither of them did. My youngest won the school elf the one year, he lives with the cuddly toys all year round because he's just a toy.

My DS really wanted me to do the elf. I won't. He's 9 and hasn't believed in Santa for years, he just wants the elf hijinks. I don't have the mental energy!! So yeh he was a bit disappointed about that but we do plenty of other xmassy things. It's ok not to have everything.

My dd asked me why we didn't do Elf on the Shelf & I told her Mummy had enough to do without adding that to my pile. I was not going to entertain that for a second!

Nope YADNBU. I've never done the daily elf thing.

We don't have elf toys. They do bring the Christmas eve box, which is just new pjs, a mug (same ones recycled every year), a Christmas story and a film. Popcorn and sweets. But they just ring the doorbell a lot and disappear. (And I run around the outside of the house like a twat). But they would get these things anyway, and they just go in a nice box that again, is the same every year!

Each to their own, but imho it's a creepy load of shite.

I've got Year 4 twins, and we've never done it.
I haven't got enough bandwidth to care, and DH has ADHD and would undoubtedly end up forgetting.
They did ask a couple of times, when they were younger, why they didn't have an elf, and I'd just do a casual "A what? I don't know." with a shrug.

A friend of mine still does it for her 2 DDs, who are both teenagers now, which seems a bit odd to me!

After arriving home from school today, DC briefly mentioned that their friends were discussing elf-antics. My DC didn't seem bothered at all about not having an elf. I redirected; I asked which day we should start making some presents, and they were excited about that.

Relief.

I do think we make magic moments at home, but I do want to stand my ground on the elf and December boxes for now.

Thank you Mumsnetters. 💐

Don’t do it, it’s a complete tyranny. Like we haven’t got enough to do at this time of the year.

Yes I’m the same. I was so anti it but now I do it i’m glad I do! I keep it very chilled, the elf basically moves position each night or maybe is playing a board game with some teddies or sitting in the Christmas tree etc. But the kids absolutely love it and the excitement is so worth the 2 minutes it takes me

For the best 3 weeks and the next 10yrs!

OP we dont do either but the children geta new pair of pj's to wear on xmas eve, but NOT matching and we put xmas bedding on, (not new)!
Kids have bever missed out and we do other family traditions but dont feel the need to post everything!

I cant be arsed doing that. I say its allergic to dogs.

Mine are 5 and 2. Haven't ever and will never do it

Absolutely not. I do it. I genuinely love it but I get why people don't want to!
I also absolutely can not abide being told what to do by people online. I'm very much "If you dont want to then it's not unreasonable, you do what makes you happy/relaxed etc"
I absolutely hate the "all you people doing elf on the shelf, just stop, you're making us look bad" type posts and, I assume there are posts making people who aren't doing it feel bad too.
You do your christmas how you want to do it and sod the social media voices!

I didn't do it for DC1 and he didn't care at all, in fact, I don't think he would have liked it. However, DC2 really did want one, so I started it, and it's fine. It is only as much hassle as you make it.