damn elf on shelf

[disneymum3]

A lot of the children in my son's class at school are doing elf on a shelf. So the teachers thought it would be a good idea to start a bulletin board where the children bring in photos of there elves and messages from there elves and then as a class they write replys.
Cue my son coming home from school today crying asking why the elves never visit him.
The only thing that calmed him down was me telling him that elves only visit a family when the oldest child starts school, and that they turn up when the tree gets put up, so the children who already have elves must have there tree up already.
I am putting my tree up on Friday, I have managed to acquire an elf on Amazon which will arrive tomorrow (next day delivery).
But now I need about 12 ideas for what to do with the same thing.

Please help?

Elf bungee jumping on elastic from curtain rail
Elf trapped in glass jar holding 'help' sign
Elf sitting on top of Christmas tree

There is a thread somewhere with loads more ideas than that, my minds gone blank

Reading or doing homework
Wrapped in toilet roll
Eating sweets and biscuits
Hanging off light shades
Head first into the tree
Sitting in the car with the keys waiting
Stuck in the fridge eating

Putting food colouring in the milk, plant tic tags in a bowl of sugar and have candy canes grow, have him build lego Christmas decorations (instructions online), write a note on the mirror with shaving foam/lipstick, have him hide in the Christmas tree, have him on the table with an empty packet of biscuits/crisps with crumbs everywhere.

Elf writing a letter to school complaining about introducing this stupid idea to your DS' school.

feet sticking out of the blender gremlins style

Personally I'd be raging at the school. Probably would have spoken to the teacher if that happened at my son's. This elf of the shelf stuff is fair enough at home but for a school to encourage it is ridiculous.

I love the EOTS but I'm feeling really sad for your DS and for you having a tradition forced upon you like this. I also wouldn't be best pleased with the school, what if you didn't have the money to buy an EOTS? How would you have explained it to DS then? It's a really shitty thing to do, I'd be very angry with the school for that.

DS has shark slippers, so elf was sat in a slipper as if he was riding in a boat.
Had him sat on top of the Christmas tree hanging onto the star
Bought some new Christmas lights and put them up the bannisters, found elf holding the plug ready to plug them in
Elf found with wrappers from the chocs in the advent calendar and no chocolates
Found holding my mobile, turned it on to find lots of elfie selfies
He wrapped up the toilet in wrapping paper
He put wrapping paper across the inside of the front door, so they had to break through it to get out.
Riding on the back of our reindeer decorations
Sat inside the top of a stocking

NB I wouldn't be impressed if this was talked about at school, first year we've done it, and only to have a mischevious elf none of the "he's spying on you stuff"

Oh that's really not fair of the school; really, really not fair. I'm angry on your behalf. I'd be going into the school tbh and telling them exactly how they've made your DS feel and how they've forced this 'tradition' on you.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I am going into school in the morning to have a word with the head teacher. As I have a few choice words to say about it all and how the teachers of his class have brought it into the class.

I would be furious at the school. What a ridiculous idea. I bet the majority of the class isn't doing this stupid elf idea. I'm raging on your behalf, and I haven't even got out of bed yet.

Update: I spoke to the head teacher this morning, about how angry I was and how upset DS was. But all he said was that he understands but as they have already started and the lesson plans have already been approved, there wasn't much he could do apart from have a word with the teacher and tell her to be more considerate in future.
I told him that if anything like this happens again in either of my children's classes then I will ask that they be moved classes or I will take them out of school untill its sorted.
I was also speaking to two other mums and they were telling me that they had a similar experience with there DC asking about the elves.

Oh FGS. I'm glad my DD is old enough we escaped this ridiculous piece of product marketing. Something shouldn't become a 'tradition' because someone writes a book that calls it one. (this thread finally made me google WTF it was and how it started - this) seems to explain pretty well.

That's really not on. Your poor DS thinking the elves had forgotten him. :(

I probably would've just told him Santa sends elves to children who are naughty to check on their behaviour before Christmas - but because he'd been so good, Santa didn't need to send an elf.

I don't really get why a stuffed toy performing low-level antisocial behaviour in your home is supposed to inspire good behaviour from DCs anyway. I get the whole 'surveillance' aspect, but the 'cute' things the elves get up to aren't going to be quite as cute when your DCs try and copy them.

Trust me if my son hadn't come home in the state he was in yesterday I would definitely NOT be doing this. I think it's pointless, why create a mess just to clean it up again the next day. I havn't bought the real elf on shelf either just a cheap elf doll cost £5.
If my son was older I would have just told him the truth but he is only 5 and is a bit young yet I think.
I do know that it is only DS' s class that are doing this. And I made sure the school understood exactly how I felt this morning.

I have decided that I am only going to do things that encourage good behaviour, and that the elf isn't 'watching' them as I don't like the idea of that. Also there will be as little mess as possible.

There is a brilliant book called How Santa Really Works. It explains (amongst other things) how elves are around all the time, but you never see them.

My ds thinks this EOTS thing is a complete crock, because if they were real elves they wouldn't have time to just sit about on a shelf.