Please explain "Elf on the Shelf" to me

[Aura]

We were discussing Christmas decorations, and my kids tell me they want an "Elf on the Shelf" for a Christmas decoration. Apparently, several of their friends have one. I know about these only in the sense that I know they exist. I went to elfontheshelf.com and all I'm seeing is stuff to buy, nothing that explains what it is.

 

Can someone please succinctly explain to me what the deal is? pretty please?

[theelfqueen]

You get a creepy stuffed elf. You pretend said creepy elf is spying on your children and reporting their naughty/nice behaviors to the North Pole.

 

It started with "you're supposed to move the elf every night while the children are sleeping" (children are not allowed to touch creepy elf) ... this has turned into people creating elaborate daily Tableau with the elves "doing things" for the children to discover in the morning (check pinterest) .

 

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[Barb_]

You get a creepy stuffed elf. You pretend said creepy elf is spying on your children and reporting their naughty/nice behaviors to the North Pole.

 

It started with "you're supposed to move the elf every night while the children are sleeping" (children are not allowed to touch creepy elf) ... this has turned into people creating elaborate daily Tableau with the elves "doing things" for the children to discover in the morning (check pinterest) .

 

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It makes me laugh that theelfqueen was the first to answer this.

[mom2scouts]

^^^Yep, that pretty much explains it. My daughter wanted one because her friends would tell her all the things their elf would do. All I could imagine was having one more thing to remember to do every night after the kids are in bed (move the elf). There also seems to be a parent competition to see who can come up with the most creative thing for the elf to be doing each day.  Most of those ideas involve a mess to clean up. Now I'm seeing Pinterest ways of not having to move the elf each night because he's sick, injured, or lost his magic. It seems like a fun idea for people who are really into that sort of thing, but I imagine for many parents it's one of those traditions they wish they hadn't started.

[mellifera33]

It's kind of like ceiling cat. Except it watches you do everything, not just one activity.

[Guest]

It's to get them used to the government surveillance state, obviously.

 

 

:D

[JustEm]

Our elf doesn't do any silly things, he just moves to a different location every night. The kids enjoy finding him and telling him what they want for Christmas

He does not observe them to tell Santa if they've been naughty or nice. Santa not giving someone a gift because they wereeam seems cruel for a child. Also I hate the Santa concept but let children lead the Santa storyline in our house

[heartlikealion]

I didn't want one but dh caved a year ago when ds learned about the elves from family members that had them. MIL has one in her home where we stay for holidays.

 

Anyway, I just read a rant on my friend's FB page before reading this thread. She said don't get an elf. Don't do it. lol. Lots of us commented admitting we have already forgotten to move him in the night. Moms went on to explain why the elf didn't move (some had creative explanations) or the panic they had when they couldn't locate the elf after Thanksgiving lol. I actually waited til Dec. for ours to show up. He has stayed in a few places too many nights so far. Currently he is in a stuffed animal hammock. I said he must like hanging out there with the stuffed animals. Ours doesn't do anything crazy. Dh did have him dangling from a fan pull once. That was kind of fun, but nothing messy or complicated. I placed him by our Rudolph stuffed animal once. I also bought him a little outfit but haven't put it on him yet. I bought it months ago when it was on sale. That's about as invested as I've gotten lol.

 

Oh yeah and there is some spin off with the elf coming on birthdays. There is another book for that. We didn't get that. There is a book that comes with the elf and you read the story and name the elf. Ours is "Elfie" :lol:

Edited December 13, 2016 by heartlikealion

[Pippen]

It sounds like having to remember the Tooth Fairy for 24 bleeping nights in a row. 

[Garga]

Different strokes for different folks.  We didn't do Santa at all with the kids, but it would have been fun to come up with goofy thing for the elf to do every night.  I wish I'd known about it about 3 years ago.  The kids would have been at a great age to have fun with it.  

 

I wouldn't have said the elf was spying on the kids, though.  That wouldn't suit me (because we don't do Santa at all.)  But moving it around and having it "get into things" and being silly as a family would have been right up our alley.  

 

But I would have only done it for one year. My oldest is 14 now and it just isn't the same as when the boys were 11 and 8.  

[mom2scouts]

We turned on the TV on Saturday night and there's now a Christmas show about Elf on a Shelf. If you're someone who doesn't follow the "official" story line, you might want to be warned.

[umsami]

There's also Mensch on a Bench.  LOL    Add more Funukkah to your Hanukkah.

 

http://themenschonabench.com/?v=7516fd43adaa

Edited December 13, 2016 by umsami

[Farrar]

Mensch on a Bench always sounds like a made up parody of Elf on the Shelf.

 

I find it super creepy. But... it's one of those things that would be cute if it was just your family homespun tradition. Part of the creepiness and annoyance to me is how widespread and corporate it is. It's like the leprechaun trap thing. If it's something you enjoy as a family, great, have at it. If it's something that you feel pressured to do because every single freaking day has to be made special and you feel pressured to do all this perfect parenting stuff, then please walk away now.

[trulycrabby]

That dang elf is the bane of my existence. :zombie: :ack2:

[Spryte]

Uh oh. I like the elf. (Running away)

 

We don't really talk about the elf spying or reporting anything. He shows up, he does silly things. Sometimes he's tired and doesn't move. It's no big deal.

 

He's our third elf. I lost the first one, and didn't want to buy another. A girlfriend found one at a yard sale and gave it to us. Oh my goodness, that elf was a mess. Since he was already dirty, we had him get into a LOT of trouble. He ate an entire blueberry pie once, and we found him in the pan in the morning. After that season, I lost him too, so we bought another. Aaack!

 

When we moved, DS found him in a box, so DS took over the fun when he was 11. He does all the moving and any scene set ups now, for his sister. It's really sweet, he wants to make magic for her life. :)

 

But yeh, I can't get into the spy aspect, that's just weird.

[heartlikealion]

I don't even really talk about the elf spying. I know that's part of the storyline, but I don't even know if ds thinks about that.

 

I really got a kick out of one thing I saw online today. Someone said a child touched the elf (which is a no no and can affect his magic lol) so they built an elf hospital (Gingerbread House labeled elf hospital). They had a pic of his schedule with check in/out time, drs, and allergies. There was a pic of him with an IV. It was pretty amusing.

[lovinmyboys]

FWIW I don't know anyone who tells their kids the elf spies on them and then tells Santa whether they have been naughty or nice.

 

I have always been a defender of the elf. This is our 5th year though and I am so over it. Part of it is coming up with creative things to do each night. Some is because the kids are not staying in bed this year like they used to. And they are staying up much later. By the time I get them in their rooms I am so done. Dh has been traveling a lot so it has mostly fallen on me to get all the kids to bed and do the elf. Plus, my kids keep losing teeth so I have to play the tooth fairy too. It is all just too much.

[Ottakee]

I was trying not to laugh out loud with this thread....as I wait for everyone to fall asleep so I can move 9ds Elf. Elf didnt move yesterday ....this mom was out of town and dh fell asleep.

 

Foster son loves it and came with his elf but we are not very creative here.

[Georgiana Daniels]

LOL, glad I'm not the only one who didn't understand it! I'm often the last to know....

[Seeking Squirrels]

A relevant conversation between my kids yesterday:

 

DD8: "I want an elf on the shelf! It's so cool! It MOVES on it's OWN! It's magic and you can't touch it or it loses it's magic! Isn't that soo cool (DD4)??"

 

DD4: "Um, no....That sounds scary."

 

DD8: "But I want one!!"

 

DD4: overly patient tone: "(DD8), do you really want to scare your little sissie?" 

 

Yeah, we don't do the elf, he creeps me out! She's only discovered it now because she's in PS this year and her school has two. We have friends who do it, though. Including with elaborate shenanigans and the "watching you" aspect. But I only know this from fb and chatting, I don't think the kids have ever brought it up. 

[Farrar]

FWIW I don't know anyone who tells their kids the elf spies on them and then tells Santa whether they have been naughty or nice.

 

But if you read the book, it's totally in there. And he comes with the book.

 

To be fair, the elf doesn't win worst message in Christmas media for kids. That honor totally goes to the Ruldolph tv special. But he's up there...

[ktgrok]

It sounds like having to remember the Tooth Fairy for 24 bleeping nights in a row. 

 

YUP!

 

We did it one year. It was awful. AWFUL. I hated it. And I LOVE christmas, so for me to not like a Christmas thing is saying something. 

 

Luckily the kids were young enough they forgot about it by the next year, so we've never done it again. 

[xixstar]

I want to do this sooo much because of friends that have so much fun going all out with fun activities that the elf brings or suggests and well they're all kinds of crazy about it.

 

But I know my reality. 3 days in I would be D-O-N-E and cursing my stupidity. And then 3 years later it would be my number one rant about all things Xmas.

 

So no elf for me. I simply admire friends that knock it out of the park (and I don't see it as a competition, that's just something she loves doing with and for her kids, more power to her) and be grateful that I think before I leap (sometimes).

[Rachel]

Mensch on a Bench always sounds like a made up parody of Elf on the Shelf.

 

I find it super creepy. But... it's one of those things that would be cute if it was just your family homespun tradition. Part of the creepiness and annoyance to me is how widespread and corporate it is. It's like the leprechaun trap thing. If it's something you enjoy as a family, great, have at it. If it's something that you feel pressured to do because every single freaking day has to be made special and you feel pressured to do all this perfect parenting stuff, then please walk away now.

What's the leprechaun trap thing?

[Guest]

But if you read the book, it's totally in there. And he comes with the book.

 

To be fair, the elf doesn't win worst message in Christmas media for kids. That honor totally goes to the Ruldolph tv special. But he's up there...

 

 

Okay you have to fill me in on the Rudolph thing. I've never seen the old one because I couldn't handle the stop motion crap as a kid, and I'm out of the loop to know if there's a new one- if there is I haven't seen it either. I'm about to be laid up and dh will let the kids go on a Netflix binge of Christmas specials. I need to know these things if something shall be banned! :) 

[theelfqueen]

FWIW I don't know anyone who tells their kids the elf spies on them and then tells Santa whether they have been naughty or nice.

 

I have always been a defender of the elf. This is our 5th year though and I am so over it. Part of it is coming up with creative things to do each night. Some is because the kids are not staying in bed this year like they used to. And they are staying up much later. By the time I get them in their rooms I am so done. Dh has been traveling a lot so it has mostly fallen on me to get all the kids to bed and do the elf. Plus, my kids keep losing teeth so I have to play the tooth fairy too. It is all just too much.

Well if your oldest is old enough; a friend of mine was telling me she handed over elf duties to her oldest child who was super excited by the whole thing... not only was she freed of it but kid had tons of ideas!

 

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[Xahm]

 

To be fair, the elf doesn't win worst message in Christmas media for kids. That honor totally goes to the Ruldolph tv special. But he's up there...

I'm curious about this, too. I had always assumed I had seen this until I watched an abbreviated version in 4D! yesterday and was totally lost.

[Tap]

Okay you have to fill me in on the Rudolph thing. I've never seen the old one because I couldn't handle the stop motion crap as a kid, and I'm out of the loop to know if there's a new one- if there is I haven't seen it either. I'm about to be laid up and dh will let the kids go on a Netflix binge of Christmas specials. I need to know these things if something shall be banned! :)

It is sexist.  Seriously promotes Bullying. Is scary to little kids (snow monster).

 

Everyone is mean to Rudolph, even Santa !  Santa is a jerk in quite a few scenes.  It is not a sweet little Christmas movie. 

 

It is kind of like when you know the Disney version of classic stories and then you go back and read the original.  And you are stunned at how horrible the story originally was.......Yep, just like that.  

 

Decent memories watching it as a kid, but as an adult, I was appalled at the brashness of it.

[saw]

I like Elf on the Shelf, but I can see why people would dislike it. Our Elf, J, is very badly behaved most of the time. We are the ones who should tell Santa on him, not the other way around. He usually uses snow spray to graffiti mirrors/windows, gets into the sweets and leaves wrappers everywhere, takes a ride in the hamster's ball and so on. The worst thing he ever did was shave a DS's cactus -- DS had bought a small cactus that came with a Santa hat, eyes and fuzz that looked like a beard. J took shaving cream and a razor and shaved off the beard (well, maybe someone replaced the bearded cactus with a non-bearded cactus). DS has not forgiven J for that. I have fun with it but that's mostly because this is the sort of thing I like. No way is it presented as J is spying on us. 

[Tanaqui]

To be fair, the elf doesn't win worst message in Christmas media for kids. That honor totally goes to the Ruldolph tv special. But he's up there...

 

Never seen the TV special. That song is enough on its own. Ahem:

 

You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen

Donner, and Cupid, Whats-his-face, and Blitzen

But do you recall

The most famous reindeer of all

 

Okay, so already we're off to a bad start. If we know all those lesser reindeer (including the one whose name I cannot recall), how can we not know this other, more famous reindeer? To logical little Tanaqui, this did not make any sense whatsoever.

 

Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer

Had a very shiny nose

And if you ever saw him

You would even say it glows.

 

1. Little Tanaqui had already been firmly informed by her parents that one does not make unsolicited comments about other peoples' appearances.

 

2. Shining isn't glowing, thank you.

 

All of the other reindeer

Used to laugh and call him names

 

Wait, what?

 

They never let poor Rudolph

Join any reindeer games

 

WHAT? Oh, how I sympathized with poor Rudolph. Some kind adult ought to step in and tell them to knock it off!

 

Then one foggy Christmas eve

Santa came to say

 

Okay, good, good! Somebody is going to save Rudolph from the ablist bigotry of the other reindeer! (I didn't know the word ablism then, but I understood it.)

 

Rudolph with your nose so bright

Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?

 

Not exactly the roaring condemnation of discrimination I had hoped for.

 

Then all the reindeer loved him

And they shouted out with glee

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

You'll go down in history!

 

Except even at six and seven years old I was wise to the ways of the world. The bullies didn't really love him, they just found him useful - and poor Rudolph was so beaten down that he'd do anything for a few crumbs of acceptance, even if it meant they went back to ignoring him the other 364 days of the year. If Rudolph had had a little more self-respect he would've told all of the other reindeer and Santa what they could do with their culture of ostracism. Santa's got a workshop of slaves elves. He can get a lantern. He doesn't need to rely on Rudolph's maligned nose-power.

 

"It's okay to bully people because they'll still come through if you need them" is not exactly a good message to send to kids.

Edited December 13, 2016 by Tanaqui

[sewingmama]

No freakin elf here. My kids get tremendously excited over opening their $2 chocolate advent calander...I'm happy to leave it there and not raise their expectations of Christmas magic 😂

[DawnM]

It's to get them used to the government surveillance state, obviously.

 

 

:D

 

 

I just read Harrison Bergeron with my English class.  Yup, get them used to it.

[DawnM]

No freakin elf here. My kids get tremendously excited over opening their $2 chocolate advent calander...I'm happy to leave it there and not raise their expectations of Christmas magic 😂

 

Even my kids thought it was creepy and asked me not to get one years ago.  I never did.

 

My mom had one when I was a kid.  She didn't know what it was for and thought it was a Christmas ornament and poked a hole in its head to put in a wire hook to hang it, and said, "I don't know why it didn't come with a hook!"

Edited December 13, 2016 by DawnM

[Chris in VA]

I have a permutation of EotS called "Kindness Elves." 

They go around doing kind things for people.

 

I've never used them. 

 

:laugh:

[SparklyUnicorn]

These explanations are hilarious!

 

I didn't know what it was.

 

 

[Aura]

Well, this is one mama that can't even keep the Tooth Fairy straight, so if I were to get an EOS, then there would definitely be some changes! LOL

 

But we don't do Santa, not in the sense that he's real. He's a fun story and sometimes we reference it. The EOS would probably follow that line of thinking, maybe occasionally be moved or whatnot. I definitely would need to talk to them to set straight any expectations, though.

 

RE: The Tooth Fairy, though. She has moved from finding a tooth from under a pillow, to finding it in a plastic baggie on the fridge...in plain sight...where it's not likely to be forgotten. And even then, sometimes, the Tooth Fairy has been "unable to make a currency exchange" from fairy money to people money.  :lol:

 

My kids know it's me. They will come and say, "MOoomm, the 'TOOTH FAIRY' forgot my tooth,"  :toetap05: and give me a very exasperated glare.   That's how the currency exchange started. "Oh, sweetie, she needed to exchange fairy money for real money, and I didn't have any to exchange. Don't worry. She'll be back tomorrow."  :Angel_anim:  Thank goodness they don't care...as long as they get their money.  :001_rolleyes:  And as long as I can come up with a silly story as an excuse.

[Garga]

Never seen the TV special. That song is enough on its own. Ahem:

 

 

Okay, so already we're off to a bad start. If we know all those lesser reindeer (including the one whose name I cannot recall), how can we not know this other, more famous reindeer? To logical little Tanaqui, this did not make any sense whatsoever.

 

 

1. Little Tanaqui had already been firmly informed by her parents that one does not make unsolicited comments about other peoples' appearances.

 

2. Shining isn't glowing, thank you.

 

 

Wait, what?

 

 

WHAT? Oh, how I sympathized with poor Rudolph. Some kind adult ought to step in and tell them to knock it off!

 

 

Okay, good, good! Somebody is going to save Rudolph from the ablist bigotry of the other reindeer! (I didn't know the word ablism then, but I understood it.)

 

 

Not exactly the roaring condemnation of discrimination I had hoped for.

 

 

Except even at six and seven years old I was wise to the ways of the world. The bullies didn't really love him, they just found him useful - and poor Rudolph was so beaten down that he'd do anything for a few crumbs of acceptance, even if it meant they went back to ignoring him the other 364 days of the year. If Rudolph had had a little more self-respect he would've told all of the other reindeer and Santa what they could do with their culture of ostracism. Santa's got a workshop of slaves elves. He can get a lantern. He doesn't need to rely on Rudolph's maligned nose-power.

 

"It's okay to bully people because they'll still come through if you need them" is not exactly a good message to send to kids.

 

The tv show is muuuuch worse. It's just dreadful! We watch it every year and make fun of it the whole time. But we like to be sarcastic and make fun of things around here. Sometimes we go too far with our sarcasm, but this show deserves it. Horrible show! And then we laugh at ourselves for being stupid enough to watch it year after year, even though we think the characters are despicable.

[Lady Florida.]

I'm just glad this thing started as ds was getting wise to the whole Santa thing. I think it started the Christmas before he realized who Santa is. I never had to even consider adding this to our traditions. 

 

As far as I know dss and ddil aren't doing it with the grandkids either. Whew!

[Farrar]

The Rudolph TV special is sooooooo much worse than the song. Like, the primary message is that if you have a difference then you should be hidden from the world, unless of course your difference turns out to be useful, in which case you can be trotted out and paraded around and forgiven, as long as you basically know your place. Santa is a total bigot in this thing. And Rudolph's parents are just as bad. It's pretty shocking. I remember being pretty young... maybe 9 or 10?... and watching it again with my little brother and being like, wait, this thing is really screwy.

[Farrar]

What's the leprechaun trap thing?

 

A thing for St. Patrick's Day that some families do now where they set up elaborate Leprechaun catching traps the night before. Because... Yeah, no clue. Rage Against the Minivan had a thing about it that went pretty mommy viral a couple of years ago:

 

http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/2013/03/lets-bring-holidays-down-notch.html

 

I feel that nearly everything in that piece can totally be applied to Elf on a Shelf.

[Seasider]

I just wish people would stop posting images of their elf pooping chocolate chip. It's decorate, people, not defecate...

[Lady Florida.]

The Rudolph TV special is sooooooo much worse than the song. Like, the primary message is that if you have a difference then you should be hidden from the world, unless of course your difference turns out to be useful, in which case you can be trotted out and paraded around and forgiven, as long as you basically know your place. Santa is a total bigot in this thing. And Rudolph's parents are just as bad. It's pretty shocking. I remember being pretty young... maybe 9 or 10?... and watching it again with my little brother and being like, wait, this thing is really screwy.

 

And don't forget Rudolph isn't the only one who is bullied. The poor elf who wants to be a dentist (The Horror!) is also bullied, until he too becomes useful by being able to pull the monster's tooth (who isn't really a monster, he's just in pain from his toothache). Then there's the whole Island of Misfit Toys. Talk about ableism. Ugh.

 

Yeah, I grew up with that show and loved it. Then I watched it as an adult with ds, being excited to share with him one of my favorite holiday movies. I was appalled. 

Edited December 13, 2016 by Lady Florida.

[Tanaqui]

Then I watched it as an adult with ds, being excited to share with him one of my favorite holiday movies. I was appalled.

 

Being well aware of the ways of the suck fairy, I'm always very careful to preview favorite childhood anythings before sharing them with the kids.

 

[Farrar]

Yeah, I grew up with that show and loved it. Then I watched it as an adult with ds, being excited to share with him one of my favorite holiday movies. I was appalled. 

 

Isn't it sad how the ability to think critically is always ruining things? ;)

[busymama7]

We have an elf named oatmeal and LOVE it. My kids are always excited to see him return and look for him every morning of the Christmas season. He only moves around each night. No mischief or anything complicated as I didn't want to set up high expectations. We do refer to him as watching us but really it doesn't feel creepy or weird. We do Santa and play the whole thing up big time and the elf is just s small part of it. But it's fun and I don't really get the hatred of it. To each his own :)

[Dmmetler]

DD never was into Santa, but for years, DH would set up DD's legos (and sometimes add new stuff) in a long, winding storyline that never has gotten completed. It never was a nightly thing, more like a "he was up at 2:00 in the morning and decided to be creative that day" thing. There were ongoing characters, too.

[Rebel Yell]

The tv show is muuuuch worse. It's just dreadful! We watch it every year and make fun of it the whole time. But we like to be sarcastic and make fun of things around here. Sometimes we go too far with our sarcasm, but this show deserves it. Horrible show! And then we laugh at ourselves for being stupid enough to watch it year after year, even though we think the characters are despicable.

Oh my gosh we totally need to get together and watch movies. We're working our way through the sappy/crappy Christmas movies on Netflix right now. Have you ever watched MST3K or Riff Trax? ðŸ˜

 

And back on topic, LOL, I am SO glad my kids missed the EotS thing. It would have been pure misery for me, but mostly because my Artist DH would have made a massive mess coming up with fabulous elaborate scenes every night.

 

We have Godzilla in our Christmas village. That's plenty for me!

[Slartibartfast]

We never did "elf on shelf," because when my eldest heard that, "Santa Clause is Coming to Town," she decided he was a creeper and wouldn't even take photos with him. I have almost no photos of her with Santa because she thought he was a weirdo!

 

I couldn't have the elf around, she would have decided he was even weirder than she thought.