I still just don't understand how this trend got started a few years ago. I have friends who go crazy with this, doing all kinds of stuff every night and making messes that the 'elf' made. It just seems so silly to me, but if it works for your family, then more power to you.
@Thumperchick That's just ridiculous. I'm so glad my kids are as apathetic as I am (and that I told them from the beginning that there was no such thing as Santa.)
@PurplePawprints@Thumperchick I'm pretty sure that it's all about the merch. One more shitty, worthless, trendy thing for people to spend money on.
That being said, we're good friends with a family has fun with it and we enjoy at least some of their posts on FB. I do enjoy many of the others I've seen though. But, yeah, I don't need another damn commitment or household idol.
@PurplePawprints I agree! I like seeing the pictures sometimes, but I wouldn't waste my time doing it. There is too much other stuff to worry about this time of year!
@magic_cave same here. I think it's weird to have to have a mystical threat of a minion watching you and recording your behavior daily. I see how a lot of people just have fun with it and enjoy a family tradition - but the idea weirds me out a little bit. However; I'm totally cool with Santa, so perhaps I'm a bit of a hypocrite?
@Thumperchick, @magic_cave, @thismyusername When my daughter was little we decided to be honest with her. Santa was a character that gave people hope, joy & many people try to act as "Santa" at Christmas to give gifts to the less fortunate. We give gifts to each other to remember how God gave us His gift of Jesus. We just didn't want to lie to her. I divorced & married a man with 2 girls who totally believed in Santa. It was hard to see their reaction when the truth came out. They couldn't believe everyone had lied to them! They felt stupid. I don't think you're a hypocrite, @Thumperchick , it would really be nice if Santa was real!
@emt305 Life is a steady stream of learning things aren't quite what we've been told or what they seem. I'm pretty sure I believed in Santa at least for a while as a kid and don't have any idea when I realized it was just my mom. I'm tempted to say that Santa is a useful object lesson, if handled correctly.
I'm curious what thoughts @christinewas has on this issue. I leaned to "telling the truth early," but her mother and I compromised on that one and I can't remember what the revelation was like and how it went.
@emt305 I just heard the story a few weeks ago about when my niece found out that Santa wasn't real (she's 15 now, so this was more than a few years ago). Her mom revealed to her that she (the mother) was Santa and gave the gifts.. So my niece said "wait.. are you the Easter Bunny??" and she confessed that she was.. And my niece said "wait a minute.. Tell me you're not Jesus too!" It was a good laugh for a goes-to-church-every-Sunday family :) haha
@kadagan I used to think that my mom was the female Jesus--not for the same reasons, but just because she was that awesome, and, well, yeah, I was a mama's boy.
When I was a child we didn't need no damn elf on a shelf - we had little baby Jesus and his Daddy and some ghost with holes in him to keep us in line. Together they was the holy trim-a-tree and Momma said they really were the same thing (but we knew better, you had to look out for all three).
When that didn't work, Momma told us Santa was omniscient too.
Heaven, Hell, fire, brimstone and a fucking magical fat red jolly elf that made toys and knew all.
@Pavlov Yep, all that, plus Santa had little birdies that saw everything. That's how it worked in our house. I was always on the lookout for birds around Christmas.
I guess my mom's birdies were the precursor to spying elves.
@Pavlov The all-watching, ever-judging eye of the Father and HS was enough to keep me continually scared shitless--and a ways into adulthood too. For some reason, I've always felt like Jesus was on my side. He might have sometimes been sad and disappointed, but I felt like he was at least arguing my case, "C'mon, Dad, give him a break."
Interestingly, we had Elf On The Shelf was I was a little kid lo some 40 years ago. It was just a christmas decoration. Looked exactly the same as the ones now. My mom still has those 3 original ones and still puts them out. My brother and I independently came up with the smartass idea of moving them around all the time to new and often compromising locations.
Now it's a trendy thing. Apparently we were trendsetters without even knowing it.
@Ryaneil Yeah, I'm not really invested either way. Just throwing it out there; and they've got a point, but are maybe taking it a little too seriously. I agree that it can be fun (at least seems that it could and some of what our friends share is funnish).
I would be so doing this is I had any young kids in my life! I am soooo over the top Xmas, except being Pastafarian, we celebrate The Day of Conspicuous Consumption instead of Christmas. My house is decorated way over the top, but there is not a single religious item displayed.
I come from a family of 5 kids, which the exception of my oldest brother and me, each one of us was 4 years younger than the next. Having younger siblings made it easier to swallow the fact that Santa was not real. As the truth dawned on us, one by one, we got to be “in on it” concerning our younger sibs. So yeah, I could really dig the elf routine.
As times change, people become more and more expectant of things happening right away (stupid instant gratification). (Thanks meh for making sure your packages take the slow boat to help break the expectation but i digress). Anyways when I was young simply saying something was watching was enough to scare the bejeebus out of me. However now, people want to see it right away, so I think the elf on a shelf is just the general direction of society. Kids have to see things to believe them as they aren't fully taught the full appreciation of believing in things regardless of seeing.
In our house, I have a 6 year old and an 8 year old. The 6-year-old (let's call her Six for short) still believes the world is full of magic, while the 8-year-old (let's call him Eight) is beginning to see through the pretense. He definitely believes in logic and reason.
So, Six and Eight have Elves in their classrooms that are up to no good all the time, I'm sure. Every time Six asks me about having our own Elf, I tell her we can't have one because they cause too much trouble. (I swear to god if my mother-in-law gets us one, so help me...)
I am not looking forward to the day that Eight figures it all out and ruins the magic for his sister. I've already started to teach him that it's rude to shatter someone's illusions if they are harmless. It will happen sooner or later. I just don't want Eight to be the one who takes away the magic from his sister's world.
This one has been making the rounds on fb for a few days:
@Thumperchick brilliant
No caption necessary.
I rather like this one
I still just don't understand how this trend got started a few years ago. I have friends who go crazy with this, doing all kinds of stuff every night and making messes that the 'elf' made. It just seems so silly to me, but if it works for your family, then more power to you.
@PurplePawprints they're selling elf pets, friends, and accessories now, too.
@Thumperchick That's just ridiculous. I'm so glad my kids are as apathetic as I am (and that I told them from the beginning that there was no such thing as Santa.)
@PurplePawprints @Thumperchick I'm pretty sure that it's all about the merch. One more shitty, worthless, trendy thing for people to spend money on.
That being said, we're good friends with a family has fun with it and we enjoy at least some of their posts on FB. I do enjoy many of the others I've seen though. But, yeah, I don't need another damn commitment or household idol.
@PurplePawprints I agree! I like seeing the pictures sometimes, but I wouldn't waste my time doing it. There is too much other stuff to worry about this time of year!
I personally think that elf is creepy! (Regardless of what it's doing!)
@emt305 I'm a little disconcerted at the idea of teaching one's kid that being spied on 24/7 (by anyone) is an okay way to live.
@emt305 @magic_cave
@magic_cave same here. I think it's weird to have to have a mystical threat of a minion watching you and recording your behavior daily.
I see how a lot of people just have fun with it and enjoy a family tradition - but the idea weirds me out a little bit. However; I'm totally cool with Santa, so perhaps I'm a bit of a hypocrite?
@Thumperchick, @magic_cave, @thismyusername
When my daughter was little we decided to be honest with her. Santa was a character that gave people hope, joy & many people try to act as "Santa" at Christmas to give gifts to the less fortunate. We give gifts to each other to remember how God gave us His gift of Jesus. We just didn't want to lie to her. I divorced & married a man with 2 girls who totally believed in Santa. It was hard to see their reaction when the truth came out. They couldn't believe everyone had lied to them! They felt stupid. I don't think you're a hypocrite, @Thumperchick , it would really be nice if Santa was real!
@emt305 Life is a steady stream of learning things aren't quite what we've been told or what they seem. I'm pretty sure I believed in Santa at least for a while as a kid and don't have any idea when I realized it was just my mom. I'm tempted to say that Santa is a useful object lesson, if handled correctly.
I'm curious what thoughts @christinewas has on this issue. I leaned to "telling the truth early," but her mother and I compromised on that one and I can't remember what the revelation was like and how it went.
@emt305 That is exactly how my mom explained Santa when we started to question it. In that sense, Santa is absolutely real.
@emt305 I just heard the story a few weeks ago about when my niece found out that Santa wasn't real (she's 15 now, so this was more than a few years ago). Her mom revealed to her that she (the mother) was Santa and gave the gifts.. So my niece said "wait.. are you the Easter Bunny??" and she confessed that she was.. And my niece said "wait a minute.. Tell me you're not Jesus too!" It was a good laugh for a goes-to-church-every-Sunday family :) haha
@kadagan I used to think that my mom was the female Jesus--not for the same reasons, but just because she was that awesome, and, well, yeah, I was a mama's boy.
When I was a child we didn't need no damn elf on a shelf - we had little baby Jesus and his Daddy and some ghost with holes in him to keep us in line. Together they was the holy trim-a-tree and Momma said they really were the same thing (but we knew better, you had to look out for all three).
When that didn't work, Momma told us Santa was omniscient too.
Heaven, Hell, fire, brimstone and a fucking magical fat red jolly elf that made toys and knew all.
That was some heavy shit to lay on a kid.
@Pavlov Yep, all that, plus Santa had little birdies that saw everything. That's how it worked in our house. I was always on the lookout for birds around Christmas.
I guess my mom's birdies were the precursor to spying elves.
@Pavlov The all-watching, ever-judging eye of the Father and HS was enough to keep me continually scared shitless--and a ways into adulthood too. For some reason, I've always felt like Jesus was on my side. He might have sometimes been sad and disappointed, but I felt like he was at least arguing my case, "C'mon, Dad, give him a break."
Daddy Yahweh, ever watching:
My Bud:
Or, you could just tell your kids you won't get them any gifts if they're little jerks. Why give someone else credit?
Interestingly, we had Elf On The Shelf was I was a little kid lo some 40 years ago. It was just a christmas decoration. Looked exactly the same as the ones now. My mom still has those 3 original ones and still puts them out. My brother and I independently came up with the smartass idea of moving them around all the time to new and often compromising locations.
Now it's a trendy thing. Apparently we were trendsetters without even knowing it.
@Bingo were any relatives named carol or chanda? :)
This guy seems so much less creepy--friendly even.
@joelmw I was just coming here to post this.
Many have suggested that Elfie conditions us to accept constant surveillance: Who's the Boss?
@joelmw For our family and I think most people it’s just fun to stage and tell tales of his nightly adventures.
@Ryaneil Yeah, I'm not really invested either way. Just throwing it out there; and they've got a point, but are maybe taking it a little too seriously. I agree that it can be fun (at least seems that it could and some of what our friends share is funnish).
@hallmike I think I'll just skip the damned elf and go straight to the hard stuff.
@joelmw You aren't the only one to think about that
I would be so doing this is I had any young kids in my life! I am soooo over the top Xmas, except being Pastafarian, we celebrate The Day of Conspicuous Consumption instead of Christmas. My house is decorated way over the top, but there is not a single religious item displayed.
I come from a family of 5 kids, which the exception of my oldest brother and me, each one of us was 4 years younger than the next. Having younger siblings made it easier to swallow the fact that Santa was not real. As the truth dawned on us, one by one, we got to be “in on it” concerning our younger sibs. So yeah, I could really dig the elf routine.
@Teripie LOVE the Pastafarians!!! Long Live the Spaghetti Monster!
As times change, people become more and more expectant of things happening right away (stupid instant gratification). (Thanks meh for making sure your packages take the slow boat to help break the expectation but i digress). Anyways when I was young simply saying something was watching was enough to scare the bejeebus out of me. However now, people want to see it right away, so I think the elf on a shelf is just the general direction of society. Kids have to see things to believe them as they aren't fully taught the full appreciation of believing in things regardless of seeing.
In our house, I have a 6 year old and an 8 year old. The 6-year-old (let's call her Six for short) still believes the world is full of magic, while the 8-year-old (let's call him Eight) is beginning to see through the pretense. He definitely believes in logic and reason.
So, Six and Eight have Elves in their classrooms that are up to no good all the time, I'm sure. Every time Six asks me about having our own Elf, I tell her we can't have one because they cause too much trouble. (I swear to god if my mother-in-law gets us one, so help me...)
I am not looking forward to the day that Eight figures it all out and ruins the magic for his sister. I've already started to teach him that it's rude to shatter someone's illusions if they are harmless. It will happen sooner or later. I just don't want Eight to be the one who takes away the magic from his sister's world.
Meh, I'll google ideas and step up my game over the weekend.
@Ryaneil Pawn to e4
TMNT
https://www.craigslist.org/about/best/bos/5355818053.html
Link is workplace safe, BTW.