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7 Reasons Why We Are Never Doing “Elf on a Shelf”

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Disclaimer: I made this post to make myself feel better for not doing Elf on a Shelf because I’m the only mom not doing it. I am not making fun of you or your elf. Please do not send him to come eat me and my children. Thank you. 🙂

Ahhh, it’s that time of year. The time when everyone from real life friends, to online friends, to bloggers are posting about Elf on a Shelf. You’re probably wondering where my pictures are, but I am here to tell you, no, sing to you, that we are never ever doing elf on a shelf. We-eeeee are never ever ever…
Okay, maybe not never. I just wanted to add that song title in there 😉

I am not anti-elf, some day I might cave. Here are seven reasons why we aren’t doing Elf on a Shelf this year:

1. The elf creeps me out.

I said it. I said what you might have been thinking. His smug grin and vintage eyes creep me out. He’s playing tricks and sneaking around our house. CREEPY.

2. I will mess it up.

If you know me, you know I am not a super organized person. If you don’t know me, well, then I will tell you, I am not a super organized person. I can guarantee that I will skip a day or five and don’t want to have to make excuses to my kids. About an mischievous elf that I’m making excuses for. 😉

3. I am not cleaning up after his messes.

No way, no sir. No elf is going to come in my house and make a huge mess and then expect me to clean up for it. HA! Think again, Mr. Elf. Take your marshmallow bubble bath over to the next house.

4. The only elves in my mind are Buddy and Herbie

And all of the little elves on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Elves are supposed to live in the North Pole, be full size and hang out with Zooey Deschanel in New York, or frolic around in Bored of the Rings. It would be weird to have an outlier elf who is hanging out at my house.

5. I have a reputation to uphold

I make my kids eat weird veggies, clean up messes, and have told Santa to not go crazy with the Christmas presents. What kind of a mom would I be if I let the elf come play at our house?! A fun mom, that’s what. No fun allowed here. 😉

6. I don’t get it.

I am hiring an elf to come to my house to play tricks, in order to teach my kids that they should be good. Sure it’s funny and cute, and maybe I’m a loser because I don’t get it, buuut… I don’t get it.

7. I will mess it up.

No seriously. Night time is my prime fall-asleep-on-the-couch-at-8pm time. The elf would probably only alternate between two spots and get bored. And then I’d be scared, cause he’s creepy.

HILARIOUS! 7 reasons why this mom is not doing Elf on a Shelf, via @whbsblog

dodging the rocks and tomatoes that are going to get thrown at me

Are you doing Elf on a Shelf in your home?

That was a silly question. Of COURSE you are. I am the only mom on this planet not doing it.

Want more Christmas posts? Here ya go. My personal faves are this advent wreath that saves you from finding purple and pink candles. Or this fancy glitter dipped mug that you could give as a gift because it’s dishwasher safe.

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Comments

  1. We don’t do Elf on the shelf, but we do Reindeer on the Roof. It comes in a cute house box with a reindeer and a book. The kids write their secret Christmas wishes and roll them up and put them with the reindeer. They put him on the roof of the box house and The reindeer flies the wishes to the North pole… Or something like that. Last year was the first year and this one will probably be the last because my baby just turned eight!
    If you don’t want to do Elf on the Shelf, don’t! It’s no big deal 🙂

  2. I had a very small elf looks just like elf on the shelf when I was a kid. My brother’s was green and mine was red. We unfolded the legs and put him on the tree hanging onto a branch. My mom gave them to us as adults. I have cherished that little guy. I think he is adorable. I was born in the 50’s. So when elf on the shelf came out I was like…I’ve had one for years and he never got into any trouble. I do have a current elf and he has played when my grandkids are here. He is pretty calm though, not to big of messes. I love Christmas and all the joy and happiness any part of it can bring. I think the Savior loves all the good things too! It is up to us to add the things to our traditions that go well with our families! Merry Christmas!

  4. I believe SOME people are eager to just jump on a bandwagon just for popularity or status which is very dangerous. There has been countless items, TV shows, etc. that appeared to be cute, innocent and simply for fun. Unfortunately most of us adults now question it’s intent. Elf on the Shelf really doesn’t make sense if you analyze it but is clearly a distraction for this time of year where our focus should acknowledge the birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Remember, they brought gifts to the newborn King. That’s where our gift giving comes in. With that being said, we should use that same energy teaching our children and instilling in them the spirit of giving instead of looking down their noses at someone else. Have them target someone who’s less fortunate each week and give them something “just because”. I promise you, their behavior will be more positively impacted by this than the trickery of an “Elf on the Shelf”.

  5. You do realize that the elf in Rudolph is named “Hermie,” not “Herbie,” correct? The original manuscript calls him Hermie, and the character was actually named for a neighbor’s son. At some point in the voice overs, someone shifted to Herbie, but that may also have been part of the reason many of the voiceover cast were fired in mid production, nobody seemed to be very good at their jobs!

  6. My husband said he had one growing up and it was fun. I told him what everyone is doing with them nowadays with the making messes thing and having to clean up. Why would I want to make a mess that would need to be cleaned up? I don’t get it. I also think he is ugly and creepy. My eight year old (who wants one) even said students at her school were commenting on how his eyes follow you. I also don’t like that you have to pay at least $25 to have the thing.
    We don’t have one in our house and I don’t intend to get one.

  7. Call me crazy but isn’t the idea to teach our children to behave all the time? And not just because there’s some creepy elf who’s going to report to Santa? Aka do this right so you get presents? I don’t like the message it sends… And I think it’s kind of mean to play the “if you’re not good im going to tell elfie to tell Santa… I don’t get it either!

  8. I’ve seen a lot of comments on here that people don’t do elf on the shelf or even Santa, we do both with our kids and here’s why. First, Santa, I would think it is hard to not have Santa bring a gift to our kids when all of their friends get one. Now before everyone flips out about that comment, that’s not the only reason. The main reason is that it teaches them to believe. The idea of Santa teaches children to believe in something they can’t see, to believe in magic and wonder, in miracles, to believe in the impossible, to believe in the spirit of giving. Even very young child can understand this concept. This helps when introducing more complex concepts of faith and the miracles of Christ and of religion. Second, Elf on the shelf. We do elf on the shelf because it brings innocent joy to our children. Does this make you a bad parent if you don’t do it…NO of course not. All I’m saying is that it works for us. Do I think he’s a little creepy, sure, I’m an adult who’s been “jaded” for lack of better word, by the world and entertainment that makes dolls creepy, but my kids haven’t. Our elf is not mischievous and he doesn’t make messes. If our kids are acting up we may say “Jolly is watching you” Now I totally understand that some say that is manipulation but I think some could also say that it is accountability. We are all accountable for our actions and this is a simple way, if presented correctly, to teach kids that there is cause and effect. But mostly it is the joy he brings them. It’s a pain sometimes to remember to move him nightly and there are days that I have to make excuses as to why he didn’t move but in the end, it’s not about me, it’s about my kids. Santa, and elf on the shelf, I think, help them to hold onto their child like innocents a little longer, and I think the world could use a little more of that. Sometimes in today’s world kids grow up faster than they need to, faster than we did when we were kids. I do my best to protect and teach them but they are exposed to things sometimes beyond my control. I believe that as they grow older they will enjoy joining in on the secret and as they get even older they will remember and tell stories of him and of the Christmas season when they were kids. My mom did things for me that she did purely to make me happy, not to get recognition or to teach a lesson, but simply to bring me joy and for our house elf on the shelf is one of they ways we do that for our kids. What things do you do purely to bring joy and happiness to your kids?

  9. Google “Dwarf in a Drawer”
    Seriously.
    I didn’t see if anyone else mentioned it here but if they do, I’m telling you again.
    So much better than the creepy annoying elf!

  10. This will be our second year with the elf. I was the same way as everyone against it. Now after the first year, I enjoy the excitement it brings my son. I hardly ever do anything creative. The elf usually just moves around, sometimes has a note for my son , “Have a good day!” or, “I heard you did a really nice thing yesterday!” Ooor, “I heard you got in trouble yesterday, let’s make today better!” Usually the same thing I say to him, and then the elf is just another cute way to awcknoledge things done. I don’t waste time taking pictures and posting, ever. I get annoyed by others doing it. Are they doing it to post how creative Pinterest made them? 😛 Or are they doing it to have fun with their kid/s? Oh well, to each their own. Do it or don’t. I don’t think either way is better than the other. Just enjoy your family. 🙂

    • This will be our second year with the elf. I was the same way as everyone against it. Now after the first year, I enjoy the excitement it brings my son. I hardly ever do anything creative. The elf usually just moves around, sometimes has a note for my son , “Have a good day!” or, “I heard you did a really nice thing yesterday!” Ooor, “I heard you got in trouble yesterday, let’s make today better!” Usually the same thing I say to him, and then the elf is just another cute way to awcknoledge things done. I don’t waste time taking pictures and posting, ever. I get annoyed by others doing it. Are they doing it to post how creative Pinterest made them? 😛 Or are they doing it to have fun with their kid/s? Oh well, to each their own. Do it or don’t. I don’t think either way is better than the other. Just enjoy your family. 🙂

      We haven’t brought out Sweet Head yet. (My son named him). So I don’t even have to move it around all month. Maybe he’ll come out when we put our tree up…hope I can find him.

  11. The elf creeps me out too. But I was able to find a plush stuffed else that does not have a creepy face at all. We have our elf to reinforce good behavior from our kids so our elf is not a “naughty” elf. He doesn’t make big messes and get into things. He just moves from place to place around the house. The kids get so excited every year when he gets here and they talk to him every night and they tell him goodbye before they go to school

  12. I’m from Mexico, we don’t have that ” tradition”. I’ll keep it like that!!! I’m scared of that thing! And I guess I go for the mist conventional way to teach my children to clean up their mess… JUST TEACH THEM! I don’t need a creepy doll to take my place! I’m creepy enough for my kids when it’s ” pick up time” and they want to keep playing! If I have to start a new tradition for my children, I rather to start the Mexican Posadas before Christmas!

  14. We got ours as a gift from a grandparent…..I really didnt want the dumb thing. It IS creepy, and almost ever night before I drift off to sleep I think, “oh &[email protected]# I forgt to re arrange that idiotic elf!” My kids love it, but we keep all his pranks to the bare minimum. Gaaaah

  16. I’m not doing it for all of those reasons! lol Thanks for saying what’s on my mind.

  17. We do the Elf on the Shelf and we all love it. It was actually my husbands idea. He liked the new tradition he could create with our 4 kiddos. One difference for us though is we DO NOT have them do mischievous things. I’m with you that it makes no sense to have them roaming around doing all sorts of naughty things when the whole point is that they are watching your kids and reporting to Santa their good behavior. Not to mention there is NO WAY my 3 and 5 year olds wouldnt snatch it up if it were within touching distance. Our elves stay up high where little hands cannot reach 🙂

  18. My son is 8 he still believe in santa but from the life of having to grow up super super young i don’t rwant my Lil buddy growing up faster than he has to. 🙂

  19. I won’t do it either. I feel like it just takes away so much from the reason of the holiday. I guess that makes me a not fun mom. And it’s so much more work for me. I just don’t have time for one more thing in my life. Besides, I think my older kids would think it’s weird to all of a sudden have this random elf show up when he never has in the past. I posted last year on my Facebook about how i wouldn’t do it and that I thought it was creepy and I didn’t have time for it. It was so controversial that I finally deleted the post because my “friends” kept reaming me out over my opinion of it. I wasn’t trying to say they were bad parents for doing it, I just stated that I wouldn’t and yet people just couldn’t let it be.

    • You need better friends! My friends totally laugh when I mention not doing it. I even joke that I will miss them when creppy creeper elf kills them all. They get a kick out of it. Friends don’t go all judgy on you, those are not friends. The only time I ever said anything to anyone was when a family member went all anti Santa and shamed allof us and told us how awful we were for doing Santa. Great you don’t want to do Santa, don’t judge us who do enjoy it. Post what you want an YOUR Facebook sister!

  20. I’m not doing it either. In fact, we only do 4 presents. 1Present from Santa and 3 from us (emphasizing the fact that Christ got 3 gifts). Try to focus on Christ but I do want them to have a little wonder from Santa.

  21. We’re NOT doing elf on the stupid shelf either!!!
    In fact, I’m not doing the advent book thing, or any other trendy Christmas activity from Pinterest either! I put my manger on the mantle, and my other special Christmas decor. My daughter collects small Christmas trees, my son collects snow globes and I collect nativity sets. I’ll stick to our own not trendy family traditions.

  22. I’m not a fan of the Elf for the same reason I don’t subscribe to the whole “Wait til your father hears about this/comes home” brand of parenting- it’s me giving away my authority to someone else. The ‘fun’ elf is kinda cool, the messy elf is waaaay too much work but I’m glad someone else is that creative 🙂 — but the Spy Elf who makes my children behave (as though I can’t?) — not for me.

    I DO like the posts about the Elf who gives suggestions of acts of kindness or comments on good behavior- more in the spirit of a true Advent wreath (but don’t get my Catholic mama self started on Advent wreaths that are little more than countdown calendars of presents– it’s a religious thing people!!!)

    Now, the Naughty Elf- maybe we’ll get one of those in 12 years when the kids are all off to college!!

    –Mama of 3 (12,9,7)

  23. We don’t do the Elf on the shelf thing either…for many of your reasons. I’m lazy and tell my kids that Santa watches them through hidden cameras in the smoke detectors – even the ones at school. They are fascinated by this idea. I find them frequently starring up at the smoke detectors looking for “Santa’s eye!”

  24. We DO the Elf on the Shelf in our house – this will be our third(?) year. We don’t over-analyze it, we don’t use it as a means of leveraging Christmas, and it certainly isn’t here to judge our kids. It’s just a light-hearted, FUN thing to do. I absolutely LOVE watching my kids every morning as they wake up and eagerly search the house to see what the elf is doing each day.

  25. I have started to see “kindness” elves popping up. same idea as the elf on shelf, but instead reinforces character qualities like sitting in a bowl with a note about baking cookies for a neighbor, or sitting on a few cans with a note about dropping them off at the food bank and why it’s important to do so. It’s easier to gear it towards the ages of the children, it may still take some “organization” but even a quick note saying ” I like how you shared your toy with your sister…” can do wonders. The kindness dolls aren’t as creepy as the elf on the shelf but any cuter doll dressed up in red and green will do! Even Barbie…. lol I don’t have any children (just 2 cats) but I do work in a child care centre and we have had some families doing it last year. But just because “everyone else” gets to do messes, doesn’t mean as individuals we have to do the same!

  27. I think that elf is creep too! For the 14 years I have been an elementary school teacher I have used a picture of my great aunt and uncle, dressed as Santa and Mrs. To let my students know I am related to him and make a call to him after the buses leave on the last day of school before Christmas. A coworker gave me the elf for a gift when my daughter was 7 months old. I have it hidden away incase I ever need it, but hope I don’t ever have to use that creepy elf!

    • Last year one of my daughters 2nd grade teachers had the elf. Piper loved twinkle or sprinkle or whatever they called creepy mc creeperson. Any way some of the more touchy Kids couldn’t keep their hands off, which apparently makes the elf sick or die or something so my daughter comes home in tears, like completely inconsolable. She wrote a letter to santa begging him to not let him die, and to please heal him. Luckily the teacher got some magic dust from the north pole and sprinkled it on the elf. Another reason we won’t do it, not only is he creepy, I have 4 kids I have enough breakdowns without adding to it

  28. Haha, that elf totally creeps me out, too. Luckily for me my kids aren’t fans, so they don’t even want him to visit. Which is a good thing ‘cuz I have WAY too many messes to clean up as it is. I don’t need to start making even more for myself. Whose idea was that anyway???

  29. We do a semi-elf on the shelf… we have an elf, but not the real ‘elf on a shelf’. We have Twinkle, who once looked exactly like Tinkerbell, but with a haircut, some now striped tights and her green hood is now a hat with a ball from one of her boots to make it a bit festive. She also got some hand me down boots from a barbie. We also follow the story of ‘Christopher Pop-in-kins’ instead of the market ploy of actual elf on a shelf. He is an elf that comes and watches no real mischief cause I didn’t get that with the elf on the shelf (along with basically all the points you made), but then I don’t think the actual story contained mischief did it? Our elf has mad some appearances already as my 4 yr old asked about her. This last time she’s been in the same place for 3-4 days, I keep forgetting to put her away again for awhile. But my 4 yr old has decided that she must just be comfortable in that spot so she keeps going back. Keep it simple and kids can fill in any gaps to keep it going. Best thing of it, you can make it what you want! Here’s our Twinkle before she got her new boots… https://www.facebook.com/AmyChadWantToAdopt/photos/pb.488055221277522.-2207520000.1416407947./552954448120932/?type=3&theater. I think any tradition is better when you make it your own and what works for you.

  30. That Elf on a Shelf thing was never even a consideration for me. It’s creepy and I have enough crap to do and don’t have time to worry about moving some stupid Elf around the house.

  31. Oh yes, girl! I am on board with a hearty ‘Amen!’ I agree with every.single.point. My sister-in-law does the Elf with her boys, so my MIL adopted one herself, and I’m all like, “Yeah, we don’t do that.” Don’t try to get my kiddos to jump on that train, b/c it is not happening here. We may do the kindness elves, but 1) I’m lazy when it comes to anything above-and-beyond the call of mothering to the brim (I mean, don’t we do a crazy amount of awesome normal stuff already?!?!) 2) I will need to find the perfect ‘dolls’ – that aren’t creepy, which is nearly impossible. 3) I want kindness to be like who we are, not what we do, so assigning kindness is still a borderline no-no. Not sure… Anyway, just wanted to say ‘Woo hoo!’ to you and this fun, succinct, and brilliant post. 😉

  32. Finally! I thought I was the only one who didn’t do elf on the shelf. Never have and dont plan to start.

  33. Occasionally I get sad when I see all the cool pictures of others Elf and then feel like a horrible mom for not doing it. Then I realize a few things. 1. I can spend that 20+ dollars on a toy or book for my son. 2. My son has no idea that this Elf exists. 3. My son tries to catch the tooth fairy So he is bound to find me sneaking around making the Elf mess. 4. He is creepy. I am sure there are more reasons but those are the top 4. At the end I feel like an awesome mom for getting that extra toy with the money I would have spent buying the Elf to begin with.

  34. Hi we live in Australia and this is all new to us. Well to me anyway. Everywhere you go it is all about Elf on the shelf.. I didn’t have a clue what he was all about until someone explained it all to me. My thoughts, wouldn’t that encourage kids to be naughty and do all these pranks. The eyes say it all. They are creepy, and I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing this little elf is up to no good. lol. Also it seems like a lot of extra work around this time of year, let alone to cope with everything else in our lives. The plus side it is funny seeing what he gets up to..but in the back of my mind I am thinking I wouldn’t want to clean all the mess up. I was seriously contemplating on buying one, one with nicer eyes which I have seen. But alas I am still thinking about it. As I have a tween living with us, it is probably too late to start. happy elfing..

  36. We do an elf but definitely not the elf on a shelf. He is one creepy looking dude and I just couldn’t get him. But after some research I got the Christopher Pop-In-Kins because apparently he’s been around longer than this new trending one and waaaaay less creepy.

  37. No elf on the shelf at this house either. I never bribe my kid to do anything, and this is essentially bribing your kid with Christmas presents to get them to listen. Yes, he also creeps me out too. In addition to those two things I was traumatized when I learned that Santa wasn’t real. It was awful! To the point that my mom still regrets ever telling me about Santa to begin with. I will never put my kid through that experience. Presents will ‘appear’ under the tree in the middle of the night, but I’m not telling my son it was because some fat man broke into our house. Same goes with the elves. Instead we’ll focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

  38. We do the elf on the shelf because grandma brought it over, the first year he never moved. The 2nd year he moved occassionally but he is well behaved because I’m with you 8pm is knock out time and sometimes he just gets forgotten.

  40. I am so glad I am not the only one who feels this way! Quite frankly, December is too busy already without me having to make and clean up more messes! And I can think of about a bajillion other ways to be a “cool mom.”

  42. We don’t do the elf either. I have too much to do and I’d surely forget to move him! Plus, while I love Santa, I try to help my boys remember the true reason we celebrate. Having an elf seems to put the emphasis on Santa every. single. day. I don’t like that!

  43. Thank you for posting this!! I’m a prek teacher and I’m SURE I’m the ONLY teacher in the district who doesn’t do the creepy elf!! Quite frankly, I think it loses its originality when EVERYONE is doing it. I’m old and traditional and I love soooooo many things about Christmas, but this will never, ever, ever. ….. be one of them!! 🙂

  44. Im not a mom but nope. I like the idea but he creeps me out too. Also, I don’t like the fact that it would take about 1-3 hours to set up and then 1-3 hours to clean up. Yeah not happened. I’ll just watch others from afar, really afar. Oh and if I ever did have kids (or my special needs brothers), I’ll probably do a reindeer or something like that. Much cuter.

  45. I love seeing everyone else’s Elf on the Shelf pictures. That darn little elf can be cute. But I will not have one in my house. 1) I don’t get the point, can’t we just use the empty threat that “the elves are watching”?? and 2) I am so disorganized that I will never remember to move it. He would just sit in one spot for days at a time and the kids would think he was sick, or dead. We don’t need that….. Thanks for sharing, glad I’m not the only one without an elf this year.

  46. We have boy and girl handmade elves. They are so sweet looking. I was unaware about the whole “not allowed to touch the elf rule “. So when we got our elves we played with them. My kids adore their elves. If they want them to get into mischief, they simply place them under our tree again. Then that night they do something simple like unroll some toilet paper or hide in the fridge. But it’s not every night. Most nights they sleep with the kids and then are played with. My kids can not understand why their friends do play with there elves. In our house it’s been a lot of relaxed fun.

  47. I do not like the creapy little elf but was thinking that I may have to give in and get one if my son starting asking why we do not have an elf. I was over the moon when my son in Target said I do not like that guy he is scary. I could of done my happy dance all the way out of Target!

  48. Well, I broke down last year and got the elf on the shelf but I did my own twist on it. I did Caring and Sharing Elf. My son has special needs but loves to do things for other people. Let me tell you by day 15 I was really having to think hard to find something that my son could do. The elf would maybe do a little mischief-y stuff to work in the caring or sharing idea for that day. A few examples: I had a little shopping cart that the elf “ran into” the pyramid cans of food (donate to the food shelf), I had the elf make a little mess with flour to “make cookies for friends”, took our old family photo (behind glass) and used a write n wipe marker and made funny faces on our faces and said “time for a new family photo”, sick elf in the kleenex box with cold supplies telling my son to “take a pick me up package to a sick friend. We had a lot of fun doing it, not sure if I can think of new things to do this year. 😉

  49. My kids are 10, 12, and 25, so we are a bit beyond Elf on a Shelf. We did the thing for a couple of seasons. But I didn’t make a mess. We would move him around and whoever found him, got a prize….a candy cane, a small car, or something similar. The elf didn’t creep me out because we had vintage ornaments that my mom gave me that looked a lot like the elf. My boys have ADD and sometimes I wonder if I do too, because I just don’t have the time or energy to pay attention to an elf. Third day in, I’d forget to move him. Oh well. I’ve never been much of a pinterest mom.

  50. My husband bought one of those creepy things when our son was in Kindergarten because everyone our my son’s class had one. Really??? I gave him a look like are you kidding me? We made it through preschool without that creep. So, everyday I would get up in the morning and he would say to me “did you move the elf” and I would have to run around and try to move it somewhere before my boy found him. Yup, I hatted it. My son is in 3rd grade and let me tell you when we moved the next Christmas the elf didn’t get our address because I didn’t take it out again. He hasn’t asked, I haven’t mentioned it and I will kick anyone that asks us about it. He has one is the classroom at school he can enjoy and it can be the teachers chore since she’s so cleaver to have one.

  51. Ok- I love the elf for my own outdated reasons. Back in the 60’s (yes, I’m that old) my parents had three elves that looked like this…one for each child. They were always hung on the lowest branches of the Christmas tree, and we were told that they were there to guard the presents from snoopy children. Several years ago my sister sent me the book in amazement that OUR elf was featured in it! I’m not sure I ever read the book. Once I heard what other people were doing with it, I thought “Oh, no no no no no!” Our elf hangs on the lowest branch of the Christmas tree and guards the presents from snoopy kids. That’s enough tradition (and effort!) for me!

  52. We do the Elf…I am sorry I started it. That being said….my elf only visits with Santa & finds a new hiding spot. I do not have the time or inclination to have that stupid elf make a mess for me to clean up. Wait til they start talking about it at school and find out that other people’s elves do silly things. I’ll really be sorry then 🙁

  53. thank you for posting this! My son is so petrified of things that watch him when he’s sleeping (i.e. Santa, the elf, etc). I couldn’t imagine that creepy elf in my house..my son would toss it outside when I wasn’t looking. I’ll save myself the time, money, and energy and refrain from buying that weird elf

  54. Glad I am not the only one creeped out by that elf. I am with you on not being organized enough to remember to move the stupid thing around every night, and trying to plan different things for it to do for 25 days is just too much.

    Although I will admit to dumping glitter in the mailbox and writing tiny notes from fairies on multiple occasions, I can only do random acts of childhood magic.

  55. Good for you!!! My grandparents bought our kids each an elf last year, Marshmallow & Plumm. They are never naughty and are NOT used to “tell Santa.” They do leave a dark chocolate-covered blueberry in the advent box each night with a story from the Bible for us to enjoy… Simple & Sweet. Thanks for sharing!!

  56. I couldn’t agree more! I don’t really get it either, and my husband finds them extremely creepy, so no elf for us. Plus, if anyone ever touches the elf (even by accident) it loses its “magic.” So if you have other kids over and one of them touches the elf, your kid has a CONNIPTION. It’s happened to a few of my friends and it is NOT fun.

  57. Oh, you are NOT the only mom who isn’t doing it! It’s been popular for years now, and, like you, I refuse to cave! Maybe it’s the rebel in me, but if everyone else is doing it, I typically won’t be. Last year, I said, “Maybe if they come out with a girl version, we’ll get one”. Lo and behold, they did it! And did I buy one? Nope! Instead, I said “Maybe if they come out with different colors for their outfits, or a way to personalize them so they don’t look like everyone else’s”. I doubt that will happen, but when/if it does, I’m sure I’ll be prepared with another excuse. 🙂 My point is, you’re not alone! And yes, those things are CREEPY! Maybe not as creepy as the nightmare inducing clown from Poltergeist, but definitely in the same category. *shudder*

    • I am grandmother of a 7 year old young man and his 4 year old sister. I have trouble keeping up with Hello Kitty, the Princesses, Legos and Star Wars. Thankfully the kids haven’t mentioned this Elf. I don’t know anything about it and that is fine with me.

  58. I didn’t know what “Elf on a Shelf” was until today, when I heard some folks on the radio talking about it. And at the risk of being repetitive: Creepy.

    Have a wonderful Christmas all, elf or no elf. 🙂

  59. So, I have all older teenage kids, 16, 17 and 20 (yea I know hes not a teen lol) and I have not ever done Elf on the Shelf. But my fiance and I decided to go ahead and do it next year for something fun for the adults, not for the kids. Some thing like elf in the liquor cabinet, all clean though, nothing outrageous.

  60. I love our little elf. I think he is cute, I like coming up with fun ideas, and I like seeing my son look for him and find him. He gets a kick out of it. 🙂
    So many people think he is creepy, I just think he is adorable!

  61. Firstly it would be nice if the comment box was at the top of the comments section. I had a to scroll a TON to find it. 😉
    Secondly we aren’t doing Elf on a shelf and we won’t ever do it. For the same reasons we don’t “do” santa or put up a Christmas tree/greenery. (though yes we do celebrate Christmas.)
    I won’t go into those reasons specifically becasue it seems like people tend to take that as a judgement upon them “doing” those things, when in reality how we celebrate is very personal and done based on our personal convictions and prayers. 🙂 So you’re not alone. Though one day I might be. 😉

  62. smh.. wow , I am glad I do not have friends like you elf nay sayers .. I am one of the few who do the elf among my friends. It is not a trend for me, not everyone are “cookie cutter” people and are doing it because everyone else is ….people like that are pathetic to me ..I do it because my child loves it, looks forward to it.. KNOWS it is not alive , believes in Santa but KNOWS he is not a living person .. he KNOWS it is a spirit .. all of it .It all derives from a feeling stemming from .. whatever end of the belief spectrum you choose.My child is 6 and knows this, and has known since he was able to hold a conversation ( at 2 ). He still follows the “laws” of Santa and our elf because he has an incredible imagination,loves the fun and games of it all, does his best to behave, and is not afraid to go along with it. I myself am a child of the Horror genre .. so clowns , dolls, zombies and other creepy things reign supreme in our home. So I get the creepy aspect of those who may not wish to do this for their kids. The rest seems like excuses to me unless you do not celebrate any parts of the winter holidays .. or are Jewish or hardcore Christian who only put up a nativity and do not observe Santa traditions …this little guy is a lot of fun,( and ya do not always have to make him do messy things..he was made for plain sight hide and seek, not necessarily .. “oh hell what did he get into now ?”) Our Elf has brought many wonderful Holiday memory’s so far to our family .. I can not help but feel bad for those who do not have this little sucker apart of their traditions ..but to each his own I guess.. I can not change the world.. have at it then .. enjoy whatever it is you do , and not cleaning up after your “own” messes ..smh

  63. Reason #1 – We have had our Christmas tree since the Saturday after Thanksgiving in order to get a jump on the house decorating. Guess what? It’s still in the garage. Seriously starting to consider just having Santa visit in the garage this year. You really think I can handle Elf on a shelf? Sure? As long as he doesnt mind showing up around Halloween.

    • hahaha! We had our tree in the garage for a week and I started having dreams about mice living in it and then coming in our house. We ended up bringing it in and thankfully (fingers crossed) no mice.

      I say let Santa visit the garage. It’ll be a Christmas to remember! 😉

  64. I’m probably the only person on the planet that has never ever heard of this tradition before this year. I’m 54 – and live in Canada. Is this just a U.S. thing?? I’ve seen tons of Facebook and Pinterest posts about it this year. Took me a bit to even figure out what people were talking about. This is all new to me! Clearly my kids missed out – as did I as a child. Or not. We survived.

  65. “We are never, ever, ever getting elf on a shelf”
    1. I think its creepy
    2. I’m bad enough with the tooth fairy
    3. “Nobody has time for that”
    4. I like going against the grain because I’m a rebel like that.

  67. I didn’t even know about this elf on a shelf thing until someone posted on FB this year. I really don’t need one more thing to keep me occupied and that elf sure is creepy.

  68. The elf creeps me out too. I didn’t know it was a way to make the kids be good. hmmm. I got a bendable snowman and my hubby and I take turns hiding him around the house. (This is an extension of our hiding the lizard (which melted) or the plastic snake.) Its a game we have played for years and I thought this year, why not get a snowman to play the game with. go figure.

  70. Thx! I was just considering doing the elf like everyone else. But I feel exactly the same as you! I have enough to do in a day, I don’t need a $30 elf and book to take up more time. Lol
    I just found this on Pinterest and it was perfect timing! 🙂

  71. We do not do Elf either. When it first became big in about 2006 or so, my daughter was a very intelligent and precocious 3-year old. I knew better than to spring something on her so I told her about Santa’s new Elf program. She told me she would think about it. A few days later, she came back to me and told me she had thought about it and she didn’t think she wanted an Elf spying on her. No Elf for us (thank goodness because I am not an organized person either and it would have been a disaster.

  72. We don’t do the whole elf thing either. I have three kids and a husband to clean up after. I don’t want to clean up after a doll! I do love Grinch on a Table though!!!!!

  73. My name is REALLY Tina! Hahaha… Now you see you’re certainly not the only mom on the planet without an Elf! We don’t have one either and mainly the reason is that I don’t like the whole premise of it. All their lives my kids have been taught that we expect good behavior from them all the time, because it’s the right thing, not because someone is watching and will tell… and it has no bearing on their Christmas gifts, either. Thanks for a great article.

  75. I bought one last year after christmas, brought it home, and then realized there was no way I wanted this in my life! I returned it to the store the next day and haven’t had a relapse in my sanity yet… I don’t need a creepy little elf that I have to move, let alone think up (or google) creative ways to set it up each night/morning. No thank you, no way, not ever… and I DO mean never ever ever!!

  76. I’m not doing it. Ever. I just figured out that there was a book with it, literally, on Saturday I discovered this.

    My reasoning, it is super CREEPY. Dolls are too, ranks right up there with dolls. And also, I have a hard enough time remembering to do the advent calendar each day. If I can’t remember to take a piece of CHOCOLATE out of a little drawer with my kids, I’m certainly not going to remember to move a creepy floppy-arm doll.

  77. Hilarious! Loved your post! I don’t get the elf on shelf who is naughty either! We’ve had an elf for years before the elf on the shelf was released. He was never naughty bc – hello! Just like you said – my kids are supposed to be good while he is naughty and making messes….no thanks! 😉 GREAT post! 🙂

  78. I felt like I wrote this myself haha. I totally have said all these things for 3 years. But I totally caved this year. And I almost always get into bed get relaxed and think crap that elf needs moved. He is a very tidy elf though he just likes to sit up really high on furniture and light fixtures. You know so my 4 year old boy doesn’t rip off his head while I am not looking 😉 boys are pure evil. I absolutely get you and I have one of the things in my house. Staring at me right the moment ….he is watching me with that creepy blue eyes lol

  79. I’m not doing it either. Honestly, I don’t get it. He creeps me out. And I don’t want one more thing to have to worry about. There is too many other things I want to spend my time on.

  80. I just got on board with the elf last year. I have an 11 yr old daughter and a 5 yr old son. Daughter has been teetering on the fence about all this. I am kinda wishing that I never started this elf. I think it is a pain to think up something cute all the time. I will finish out this season but he may not make a return next year. That will give me time to think of an explanation. Lol

  81. Just wanted to let you know that this is the funniest thing I’ve read in about a month. Maybe I’m hard up for humor, but for real. I don’t even have kids. There are tears coming from my eyes….I just read it to my boyfriend because I wanted to share. Props to you for not giving in to social media peer pressure!! He is creepy.

  83. I started Elf on the Shelf last year and my kids loved it! I did not buy the one in the stores that came with a book. I paid $5.95 and got a cute Elf.
    Ours is different than the commercialized version. He does come in and make mistakes but we are trying to teach our kids about grace and forgiveness. We have added a Jesus aspect to it and not so much a Santa aspect. So far things are going great with it! (My kids pick up the mess our Elf makes)

    Merry Christmas to All!!

  84. We don’t do the creepy tricks with our Elf. In fact, this is the first year I’ve even heard of them. Our elf, Jack, simply watches them during the day ‘for Santa’ and reports back to Santa each night. He ends up in a different spot each morning and the kids race to see where he’ll be hanging out that day. They LOVE Jack and miss him every year when he returns to the North Pole after Christmas. 🙂

    • Cookie just moves! No messes for this mama:) but we do have fun doing it, so glad I’m not the only one choosing to NOT make the elf misbehave:)

  85. just to remain anonymous
    had an instagram posting from a relative. Pic of “elf” with the words, “I’m back” written in skittles. Can anyone say ‘Poltergeist’!!

  86. YOU GET IT!!! Thank you! My friends know I think this thing is totally creepy, and December is always ‘post EOTS stuff to my fb page month’ for my friends. I get funny pix, cute pix, and anti EOTS pix. I appreciate those the most. lol
    #6 is the best of all. Why didn’t I ever think of this genius rationale??

  87. The elf we received as a gift is in a box in the garage… it will be “lost” during our next move. Ah, the joys of being a renter. 😀

    I hate that thing… and failed at it miserably the year we got it. Fortunately, kidlet was too young to “get it”.

  88. Very good points I too thought the same things. Mine was given to us as a gift. I don’t do the messy part of it. I told the kids that the elf is playing hide and seek and they just got to find her. It been fun seeing who finds her first.

  89. I think everyone has pretty much hit it on the head. First off I’m not paying that much for a creepy looking thing that I’m supposed 2 remember 2 move around every day in the hopes that our daughter will care or even get the meaning ( with or w/o being a special needs child)
    Due 2 the fact that she is a child that requires extra attention & her quirks, I can almost see her grabbing him & chucking it out the door or throwing it secretly to the dogs for a new chew toy. ( Hey, just b/c they may have special needs doesn’t mean they’re not smart!!! LOL) I’m lucky if I get a shower or get 2 pee by myself!!! Oh hey, there ya go, that’s it…. I can flush him down the toilet, oh wait she’ll do that for me. Well that creepy sucker definitely isn’t going in the shower with me!! Hey Hallmark how about the Elf with a Vacuum? That way he can clean up his own mess for those people he “makes a mess in their house” for!!!! Lord knows if he did that in my house, this momma would tear him apart limb by limb 😉

  90. Our three kids absolutely LOVE our elf and can’t wait for him to appear after Thanksgiving. The older two have a blast finding new spots for him to keep the magic going for their younger brother. When they were all younger and still believed in him, they refused to use the bathroom because Elfie was in there, and no way were they using the toilet with that creepy elf watching them .They are all convinced his eyes move when they are not looking. Ours doesn’t get into too much mischief, but he did land on the cactus last night and left a sign reading, “Ouch! I need a Band-Aid!” I love how excited they get and making lasting memories with them.

  91. I am a first grade teacher and I do the elf at school, but not at home with my own children. I feel like I am not getting into “mommy heaven” now. I entered a contest for teachers and I won the creepy little guy. My school elf does not do anything bad…I just can’t manage that. I just move him around the room and pose him. It actually gets the kids all rowdy and riled up, but since I won him, I felt like I should use him. I did have him tether together two Eric Carle plush caterpillars so he could ride on their backs, which was quite hilarious. I will say that the kids absolutely love it, though.

  92. I don’t understand why people have such strong feelings about something that is so insignificant. People go beyond measures to make it sound like a bad thing (not referring to you, but a lot of the above comments). My child knows the real reason for the season. But we still allow Santa and the elf because its something fun and call me a crazy parent, but I enjoy seeing my children happy as long as it doesn’t harm anything—which it doesn’t. I don’t guilt my children into behaving for the elf or Santa. My children behave well throughout the year regardless. To say you don’t want to do it because it creeps you out, you don’t want to take the time to do it or the money is one thing. But to shame the parents who do, which I’ve seen a lot of, I find ridiculous.

  93. This is our first year doing the elf thing. My kids are 10… still believe…especially my daughter (she’ll believe until she’s 30– unless I tell her sooner). However, she has and always has had, this irrational fear of Santa, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy, being in our house. (So, what in the world was I thinking buying a couple elves that do crazy things in our house at night??!!) After one night of the Elves (we have 2 of them) being in the house… and being up with her ALL night due to her fear (try doing anything w the elves with a child glued to your side all night!) … they have been banned to the garage. They wrote her a letter from the North Pole and told her that they would not enter the house (they promised!) and would remain only in the garage and that there was plenty to do in the garage. Even with them in the garage… she still got up in the middle of the night and climbed into bed w/ me. (oh no, she’s not scared….the rain woke her up) I guess jumping on the elf bandwagon wasn’t such a smart idea on my part! All I can say is that this is going to be a LONG, LONG month!!!

    • P.S. She begged for the elves and LOVES them during the day!! So… that’s why we haven’t just ditched them completely!

  94. Hahaha too funny! I wish I would have read this post before I invited our elf Sally into our home! I have some very similar sentiments! My kids really do love it! Sally was hanging from the light fixture in our kitchen this morning that is as mischievous as she has gotten! 🙂

  96. My nieces and nephews behave BECAUSE of it and my sis does cute things and the kids love it…so it’s now a tradition!

  97. Wow! You found the hot-button topic. This was hilarious to read!

    I had come to the exact same conclusions as you for the exact same reasons when guess what happened! Grandma gave us an early Christmas present! Oh yes, she did! She was so excited about it and had given on to my kids cousins as well. Our elf finally made it out of the box about a week before Christmas when some improvement in behavior was sorely needed. No mischief for our elf, just moving around! My 6 year is hoping our elf will come back–all of her friends’ elves have. I think I will tell her she can’t come back until our house is clean and the Christmas decorations are up. If this thing is going to stay at my house, it’s going to work for me!

  98. No elf on the shelf here! Why am I going to buy something to keep my kids doing what they should be doing all year long? Of course I use the lil birdie is watching you and will report to the northpole. If no birds are available, deer, squirrel, and any other critter is fair game. AND I d

  99. We will never do the Elf! Hahaha. Love your reasons, and I totally agree. My daughter, who is 6 now, came home with a writing paper from school. It said something about how we don’t have an Elf. And I asked her about it. She wants one… Yeah, not going to happen. Plus, we would end up with the slacker elf anyway! Lol

  100. THANK YOU!!!! You said every. single. thing. that I was thinking!! I don’t understand why parents are giving themselves one more thing to do! I would mess it up on day one, no doubt in my mind. I haven’t even started advent! So I’m resorting to 12 days of Christmas, which I hopefully won’t forget to start next week.

    If parents want to bribe their kids, why don’t they use Santa? That’s what our parents did. Or candy for goodness sakes! At least you can stash a years worth in your cupboard and not have to come up with a clever idea every freakin night!

    Okay, end of rant. But thank you!!!!!
    PS. totally creepy

  101. Haha this made me laugh. We have one, but I have issues with Santa lol not the elf. We use ours as a toy. My kids play with her…put Barbie clothes on her. I have the elf to acts of kindness which can be cheesy but it makes kids think. I am not going to lie I got/get tired of coming up with ideas lol.

  102. I bought one for my boys last year. His name is Sam. I remember I hid the box so they would think he went back to north pole. Now we cant remember where we hid him. Me and my husband have searched everywhere and tore the house apart and no luck. I told him I feel like he came to life and is hiding on us laughing we cant find him. The boys keep asiing where Sam is and I just say I dont know. I dont want to oay another $35-40 for another one. We just hid him though. We didnt make messes.

    • my best friend can’t find hers either! The kids keep asking when she’s coming …. haha!

  103. No elves on our shelves either! Sure hope this fad ends soon. Hard enough to keep up w/ all the other lies (Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc.). Why would I want to add one more or more work for myself?

  104. Ah! Thank you! No you are not alone bot my husband and I cannot stand the little fuckin elf! In fact I am so outraged that they are now doing it at my sons school I’m thinking of calling!

  105. Definitely not doing Elf on a Shelf either. Pretty much for all your reasons: it’s creepy and I’m lazy. I don’t think I had ever heard of it until Pinterest.

  106. I always thought that Elf on the Shelf sounded like a fun thing to do, but I am super cheap (thrifty?) and would never spend $20+ on the thing. So, I found an adorable elf at a thrift store for a couple bucks. He’s not creepy, he sits upright on shelves, and my kids don’t know the difference.

  107. I don’t get it either but my dark side wants to go all Bad Santa. Elf with Barbie. Elf hanging out in the underwater drawer. Elf drinking. My college age son would enjoy it. The 5 year old might not.

  108. Our elf doesn’t misbehave. He just lands in a different location each night after reporting back to Santa (as I do believe the original story goes) This year he brings a challenge to complete during the day (for example say something nice to someone, or pick out a toy to donate) as a countdown to Christmas since she’s a little older. Some of the ideas i’ve seen are cute, but I don’t understand how you move him or clean up after him with touching him (causing him to lose his Christmas magic) under watchful eyes of kids, and no way am i going to keep moving the darn thing all day long. We got our elf before he became a fad though, so he wasn’t $40 at the time. No way would i pay that now…

  109. You have me rollin’ ! I thought for a minute about doing Elf on the Shelf….then saw how much he cost….nope! No thanks! We have a friendly polar bear from the visiting from the North Pole…who will come each day with some fun activities and some ideas to do something nice for someone else. Cost all of $3.50 (it’s an ornament).
    And that elf…I’d be worried his head might starting spinning around…..

  110. Amen, amen, amen!! I don’t have kids and hope that if I am every lucky enough to have them, this Elf business is so last year. I can’t get past how creepy it looks!!

    KK @ Preppy Pink Crocodile

  111. hahaha you make me laugh 😛
    New follower here!!! Love your blog!!!! Feel free to check mine out 😀

  112. I hate the Shelf Elf, too. And I have a deep-rooted paranoia over dolls and clowns and this is some evil hybrid of the two. But my children finally said, “Why does So-and-So have an elf at his house and we don’t?”

    And now we have a damn elf. Now I feel badly for the previous 7 Christmases, because the joy and wonder in my house is amazing.

    Feel free to bash and ban me. Ha.

    • no bashing or banning here. You’re a good mom for overlooking the creep factor and making your kids happy! I almost want to do it to get that joy and wonder. Almost. 🙂

  114. I totally agree with you about the Elf on the Shelf!
    I caved though and have ordered the original. I did a lot of reading, like every Christmas since my daughter was born. If you ever do cave, it is worth it to consider the significantly less creepy elf. I ordered just the elf so we can make the story like we want, but the website has pictures and abridged versions of the stories.
    http://www.elffun.com/christopher-pop-in-kins/

  115. I always think these elves that are supposed to make sure kids are being good defeats the whole purpose when the elf does naughty things while the children sleep. Shouldn’t he be an example? If I actually did elf on the shelf, I couldn’t have a a naughty elf & expect my kids to be good. Even if he does “funny” things. It goes along the same principle of do what I say not what I do.

  117. While I too must admit the idea TO ME of a elf watching me is sorta creepy, I also have to keep in mind the elf on the shelf isn’t about me and the joy it would bring to me. It is about the kids. While some kids aren’t into it, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say the vast majority of kids have a wonderful imagination would love the experience of having a lil buddy who visits from the north pole. Parents need to understand who the elf if for. Now, I also sympathize about the planning and cleaning up after the silly lil thing, but in the end, at least at my house, it is so worth it. We don’t have a meddling elf though. He’s not a spy, but more of a mischievous house guest. ha ha. This is our second year to have him. For the past 3 years my son, now 9, loved hearing about the neighbors and and classmates elf shenanigans. He was so excited when he showed up last year, and my 4 and 2 1/2 yr old are so excited to see their little friend. My 4 year is building him an apartment in her barbie house.

  118. Hi,
    we make the elf fun for our four year old and avoid the creepiness 🙂
    More than three quarters of the world actually have no idea who or what the elf on the shelf is to begin with (it’s an American thing, just like Thanksgiving in late November), so rest assured you are not the only one on the planet 😉
    The other day we saw something at Wal-Mart you might be interested in as an alternative program – the Dwarf in the Drawer! He hates the elf and only wants to have fun, he doesn’t like a spy in the house and dares everybody to just touch the elf and get it over with…

    Hope you feel better now, knowing that most of the world is not doing it and you are not alone 🙂

  119. That was alot of comments. I think the purpose is for kids to believe and for family traditions. Kids are growing way to fast and family traditions are slowing fading. Your elf tradition doesn’t have to be like everyone else’s. I mean my kid plays/bakes/colors with hers, she comes after thanksgiving and hangs out till new year’s. She does fun stuff for my tot and naughty stuff so my hubby and I, so we don’t get bored. I’ve only had it one year so well see how this year goes. I say have fun with and also this might not work for everyone and I respect that. Happy Blogging

  120. Oh, he creeps me out too. And what do you tell a kid who’s smart enough to say it’s just a doll and you do it! My grandson ‘s third grade teacher did this last year. He thought it was totally stupid.

  121. I realize this is an old post but I just had to say I love you for posting it! I have never understood how a misbehaving elf is supposed to teach kids to behave. Makes no sense. And we already have a creepy stalker who “sees you when you’re sleeping” to scare kids into being good anyway!

    • haha and I love you for reading and agreeing, Lia! 🙂

      A year later it seems like even more people agree than did back then! And despite what my husband thought last year, people still recognize that Taylor Swift song LOL. Thanks for taking the time to read/comment. Have a good weekend!

  122. I don’t do Elf on the Shelf, either. I feel a little out of it because I haven’t jumped on the bandwagon, but I don’t really get it. It’s too much hassle, I’m not that creative, and I, too, don’t want to clean the mess up. Or try convincing my daughter to clean up a mess made by a doll. A (you’re right) creepy doll. We have enough holiday traditions that are meaningful and don’t need this little waste of time in our family!

  123. I had never heard of “elf in the shelf” until I joined Pinterest about a year ago. I started seeing posts about all the mischief he gets into and my first thought was “who cleans that up??” Seriously, who is going to have time to clean a bag of mini marshmallows out of the sink so the kids can brush their teeth?
    My stepdaughter is 12 & my son is 2 so the elf will not be visiting our house. I do think some of the elf pranks on Pinterest are funny but mostly the ones that are pretty inappropriate for kids. My son finds enough ways to get in trouble & make messes, I don’t need an “elf” to give him more ideas.

    • LOL yes! The ones that are the best are the ones I wouldn’t want them to see. Or if they did do them I would be a bad ad mom… 🙂

      Happy Elf free Christmas to you, Jessica!

  124. I agree with all your reasoning. Especially the creepy part. I will probably never do it, either.

  125. We have an elf that comes and visits us every December, but I make sure he is a clean elf. I am not into cleaning up powdered sugar angels on the counter. I’ve tried getting creative with him once and had him zip lining across garland, but sadly, he didn’t make it. The boys found the carnage the next morning. Broken candy cane, Elvis (their elf) lying on the floor. From then on he got secure, boring positions around our house;)

  126. Well, I have three grand children and we do the Elf thing. However ours is a little different, two come to our house the day after Thanksgiving, a girl and a boy, they arrive through a portal, that is a wreath of course. They are not the original Elf on the Shelf, they are just two cute Elf dolls I picked up somewhere. They do make a few messes, but never anything big, they leave sweet little gifts for the kids like drawing pads or abc workbooks, the kids love it. The do go back to the North Pole sometimes, but mostly because they miss home. Sometimes they are just found in different places, doing different things, they do not have to make messes all the time. Ours are sweet not creepy.l but everyone has their on opinion, on whether they enjoy this sort of thing are not, my kids love them and would be so disappointed if they didn’t make it here from the North Pole!

  127. I just came up with an idea – we will do our own take on “Elf on the Shelf”! I’ll get an angel figurine who moves around each day, but instead of “messes” he will do kind things around the house, not connecting him to Santa at all. That will inspire my kids to kind things throughout the month. 🙂 So excited about this!!!

  129. We don’t not have an elf spy in our house. We have an elf friend. Belle visits each Christmas to learn more about girls and boys She is an “elf in training”. Because elves live many, many years she’ll be young the whole time my daughter believes in the magic.

    I’m not a fan of tattling and my daughter is to obey because I said so, not because some elf is spying on her.

  130. I realize I’m a year late on this topic, but I’m google is good for finding old blog posts like that. Is this thing really $40? And does the Elf have to make a mess? I have to say that I’m surprised that so many parents willing to manipulate their kids under the guise of this toy rather than teaching them to have manners and to obey the rules of the home. This Elf can only be used for a few weeks and will lose it’s feigned effectiveness quickly. Good parenting and common sense will last a lifetime and those families will live in better harmony. (stepping off my soapbox).

  132. LOL! I totally get it, although we do the Elf. I HAVE forgotten many times and we actually play this a little different. It’s for fun, we don’t go by the book, which we didn’t even get until two years ago. I don’t let him make big messes. The kids love seeing what he does though. He leaves them ONE peppermint candy each time too. It’s strictly for silly fun. We don’t do santa so that’s a whole other thing and means that they don’t care if he does something every night and obviously he’s not reporting to santa. I know a lot of people are creeped out by him. We used a frog for a couple of years since we didn’t have the real elf.

  133. Thanks for sharing how you feel. I wish there was a roundup of blog posts against this creepy, messy, loitering elf. Our kids have asked about this and my only answer is a clear, firm, “We don’t have a shelf for an elf at our house.”

  134. What ever happened to the naughty and nice lists? Why do we need additional reinforcements like this creepy elf when we’ve got Santa ? And switches or coal vs gifts? Lol

  135. Holy cow you have gotten a million comments on this! I totally agree with what you have to say but just had a couple of comments. 1. They now have a less creepy looking Elf out there (It creeps me out too and I spent a hours looking for a different elf the first year we did it and didn’t have any luck but now they have the kinder gentler stuffed one)?and 2. We don’t do the clever pain in the a$$ elf on the shelf that you see on Pintrest & blogs. Our elf is simply there on Santa’s behalf, watching to make sure our kids are behaving. 🙂

  137. Nope, no Elf on the Shelf here, either. And I don’t plan on it. Like ever. I’m in the “I will mess it up” boat with you-the holidays are jam-packed for our family as it is, so why add one more needless thing to the list?! It’s supposed to be a happy, joyful time of year, right? Not a stress-filled, cleaning up messes an “elf” made (seriously, who in their right mind makes a mess, blames it on an elf, and then has to clean it up?!) Glad to know I’m not the only mom too mean/lame/whatever to jump on that bandwagon 🙂

  138. It only took me a few days to regret getting an Elf on a Shelf – I am not very creative and would forget to move him until I woke up in a panic in the middle of the night. On Christmas Day last year I remembered I was supposed to take the elf away, but the kids were awake, so I grabbed him, hid him in my shirt, and threw him up on the top shelf of the master closet “until I could properly put him away”. Well, I forgot he was up there. And then one day in July he somehow managed to fall to the floor, and my children were horrified when they found the elf in mom and dad’s closet. The little ones came running and screaming to tell me the elf was back. I had to make up another story about the stupid elf and why he was back!

  139. At least your reasons for not doing it seem to be more “pure” than mine. I think it could be fun to do the Elf on the Shelf, but alas, my sister-in-law caught on to the idea in the really early stages and was doing it before me, and I refuse to validate her by following her lead 😉 …but the Grinch on the Table? Now there’s an idea I could really embrace!

  140. Nope, not at all!!! He creeps me out as well! Besides that we really don’t even let the kids believe that Santa is dressed in a big red suite with the long grey suite. Why would I have a creepy looking elf hanging around my home!!?? *gives me the shivers!*

  141. I’m so glad my kids were too old when the elf came along. My 26 year old daughter and I think both the elf and santa are creepy. I mean really, ‘he sees you when you’re sleeping’. Dirty old man! I have, however, been hiding a cheap plastic elf and santa in the room my daughter stays in when she comes for Christmas. It’s a lot more fun when they’re older and I get to do it for the creap factor. I sometimes don’t find where she hides it till months after Christmas!

  142. I actually do the elf for my 6 year old son, however it’s a different elf, and not the one you have pictured. I thought the “traditional” elf was extremely creepy, and wouldn’t have been surprised to see his head do a 360 at any moment. We don’t believe in santa at our house, so the elf is pure fun for us. No “be good, because the elf is watching” or anything like that. It’s just something different and fun that I thought he would get a kick out of. I’ve already started planning my days for this year! To be honest though, by the end of the season last year, I was WAY more than ready for it to be over! If you want to see our elf antics from last year, check out my blog!

  144. Yes, To all of this. We actually don’t even do Santa in our house! Yikes, talk about no fun allowed! I just don’t understand the purpose of the elf. Like you said, why does he need to come to have my kids be good? It just doesn’t make sense! Shouldn’t they be good because I asked them to be? I would totally mess it up too. So funny about rotating between 2 spots – that would totally happen in my house!! No elves here!

  145. Haha! I love this post SO much! I can not do elf on the shelf.. He totally creeps me out. I seriously can not have any form of doll in my house! Good thing I have boys! Lol. I don’t mind seeing his mischievous self on IG, but I’m with you, I’m not cleaning up his mess and I would absolutely forget to do said things most days & then my kids would think the elf is lazy. Hehe 🙂

    • DITTO X7! THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY!!! 🙂 I’ve felt like a degenerate mom for three Christmases now, but it’s okay if there’s another one of me out there somewhere!

      • Lol, I know what you mean! Last year when I was seeing the elf on IG like crazy, I asked myself if I should give in and get one for my boys and then I thought of all the reasons I didn’t want one and changed my mind. We can be the degenerate moms together! 😉

  146. Ha-ha! I love all the comments here – almost as much as I love your blog entry! We were bamboozled into doing the Elf-on-the-Shelf and you are 100% right! It is tough, when you are tired and have tucked everyone away in bed, to remember to move that little elf! We were almost discovered shuttling our elf more than once. But my daughter adores her elf “Feather” and watching her excitement every morning has made that little pain-of-an-elf worth it. (Never thought I would admit that, but there you go…)

  147. I just found your blog today and wanted to say something about your elf situation. 🙂 I teach 2nd grade and have an elf on the shelf at school for about 2 weeks. Out elf moves around the room but doesn’t normally make a big mess, but one neat thing I do with him I that I have him holding a letter each morning. The letter is from Santa and it has a daily assignment for the kids to do. One day it might be to play with 3 new friends at recess, or to hold the door for someone that day,etc… If you don’t like the idea of the crazy antics, maybe you could have your elf bring back letters from Santa with fun assignments that have to do with manners and being nice to others. Just a thought! My kids love it.

  148. We got him last year. I never even heard of it. My daughter got it for Christmas, so he doesn’t leave when Christmas is done. He faded away just after the New Years. I forget to move him a lot, so he will stay in the same spot for a long time. My daughters friends come over and they go looking for him. I just let him make his first mess today. An easy to clean up after. He made the flour angel and tried to make it look like the little teddy bear guy did it. Hopefully he is easy to clean flour off. I like it, my kid loves it, her fiends love it. I forgot to take it out of the garage, my daughter went looking for him, so we had him in the house like a week ago.

  149. Completely disagree! I love watching my kids find the elf! Love watching them light up! Love that they are still innocent, naive, and believe it all. I think it’s a sweet, cheap, magical thing to do every Christmas. All you Elf haters should try it and then talk.

  151. Everyone has a lot to say about this! Ha! We don’t do it and don’t do Santa (though I agree, doing it is not evil by any means!) Our reasoning is, if we want our kids to believe in Jesus – how can we gain their trust back after lying to them about Santa?!
    And yes, who designed the Elf? It is WAY creeeeeeepy

  152. I do the elf for my kids BUT I’m with you, I don’t get why he is suppose to be naughty. Isn’t he suppose to report back to Santa if the kids are being naughty or nice? My elf just flies around at night and keeps an eye on the kids to make sure they are being good. I’m not cleaning up after one more person. Four boys, a husband and two dogs are enough!

  153. Great reasons! Cute post. =) Funny how many people say the elf creeps them out. I don’t think I had actually even heard of Elf on a Shelf until this year! Not my cup of tea either. =)
    Merry Christmas!

  156. From a Christian perspective, I don’t think it is right to sell a hoax to your kids only to tell them later that the elf, or Santa, is not real. They will also always be wondering when you will tell them Jesus is a myth.

  157. Cute post! My husband and I are actually doing Elf on the Shelf for our daughter for the first time this year. I have to admit, at first I didn’t get the fascination with the creepy elf, but my husband talked me into getting it for her. She absolutely loves it. I think the whole point of Elf on the Shelf is to help children believe. I watched HLN. Nowadays kids are growing up way to fast and their minds aren’t as innocent as they used to be. There are kids in my daughter’s pre-k class that don’t believe in santa! It’s sad and takes away from the fun of Christmas. Elf on the Shelf is a way for kids to look forward to the holidays. It’s exciting for the whole family and makes her so happy. I guess that’s why I will continue doing it for my daughter and future children. 🙂

  159. We have elf on a shelf, but he is a good elf! He doesn’t do anything bad. Because he shouldn’t be bad! He has brought the kids cookies from Santa for being so good, colored pics for the kids, and played with their toys…ect. But no underwear in our tree, or marker faces in pics for this house.

  160. That elf is creeepy! He’s related to that creepy clown in the Chuckie movies!!
    I tell everyone I dont need an elf to make my kids behave.. I have a 6’2″ husband for that and besides
    it makes Santa look like a moron that he can’t find out who’s naughty or nice on his own! *winks*

  161. I actually had to look up what all this “Elf on the Shelf” madness even was, so I’m thinking I must be even more of a Scrooge than I ever imagined. LMAO. I don’t get it either. Just…..no.

  166. I only heard of it this year…Don’t worry, I’m doing it…the little f’er freaks me out!! My husband saw him today and agreed with me on the creepy factor. Plus our boys don’t know of Santa…my oldest talks about him after watching Rudolph, but I told him that Saint Nicholas was real but Santa & his reindeer aren’t. We want our kids to be thankful for the REAL reason of the season. we also prefer them to thank the people who put the effort to pick out a gift for them, instead of a fat guy who crawls down our chimney. OK, that was a bit harsh towards Santa. (sorry). But ya, we wont be doing Elf on the shelf…paying that much for a thing I’m pretty sure would get up and watch me while I slept is so not happening.

  167. Cute!

    For me this is the first year I ever heard of this Elf…so, I am going to do it, because my kids are out of control, and have flushed their manners down the toilet! something’s got to give! LOL

  171. I wasn’t planning on doing it this year either. I wasn’t forking out $30 for the darn thing. Then I was going through a bunch of Christmas stuff that my grandma had and I found one in there. Like old vintage 60’s or 70’s elf. Still creepy but the fact that my grandma obviously used to do it with my mom and uncles when they were little kinda won me over so we are using our elf for our family.

  172. Ok.I was way ahead of elf on the shelf
    We bought a fairy Barbie for my fairy believing daughter 10 yrs ago… and my husband would sneak into her room at night to change its position. A few morning she woke up to the Barbie looking like it was trying hard to get out the window. Kinda like a face-smashed-against- the-window-with-her-hands-clawing-at-the-glass-with-a-“save me!!”- expression-on-her-face. Lol! My kids r too old for the creep elf. But I would probably have too much fun putting it in really inappropriate places/positions.

  174. Loooove this post! Love you! The elf creeps me out too. “You rock” to the moms who can swing this tradition. We already have so many 😉 thanks for the laugh, lady!

  175. Oh my goodness, this is too funny, and true! I am glad to hear your thoughts on this…and I must admit, I agree!

  176. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I feel the same say about the little elf. Plus I kinda feel a little guilty about telling my kids one more “story” (read: lie) about Christmas. Isn’t Christmas about a baby being born?…something about Savior of the world?….so yeah, no elves at our house.

  177. We aren’t elf on a shelfers either. Maybe because there aren’t kids in this house yet, but really, he gives me the heebie jeebies. But now that I think about it, It would be fun to sneak into my brothers house and do it there. Much creepier that way and not in my house. I’d probably make it one time and give up.

  178. I agree with you. I don’t really get it either. And I hate the messes he “makes”. So, no…we never have done this elf thing in our house!

  179. have just found your blog through this post and you have me in fits of laughter ( apologies if I use weird expressions but I blame it on being irish 😉 )
    Am looking forward to sitting down over the weekend and catching up on your blog with great interest and I am so with you on the creepy eyes bit

  180. Yes! My kids are 8 & 11, and I love to creep them out! lol….this will be our first year, but I think the entire family will get a kick out of it. At least we’ll have a good laugh in the morning, instead of the grumpy-waking up-at-6:30 am-to-go-to-school-cannot-wait-for-winter-break-kids 😉 But I totally get you….I’ve been against it in the past, because I, too, am very unorganized and hate cleaning up made-on-purpose messes 😉 I don’t think I’ve ever used the dash feature this many times, btw!

  182. Haha! This was refreshing! I am doing Elf on the Shelf this year, but honestly all the stuff on Pinterest is just annoying me. So much so that I kinda want to ditch him. But that would be traumatizing seeing as we just got him to “come out.”

  183. I’m with you, he creeps me out. I am glad my kids were young before this fad, And I would be sure to mess it up too, I always told my kids that the tooth fairy was either very busy, or undependable (depending on my mood) and they couldn’t count on her to come the very night their tooth fell out. I had enough trouble with santa and the easter bunny.

  184. This post was a breath of fresh air! We’re Elf on the Shelf people, but earlier today I read an article that talked about why the writer wasn’t doing Elf on the Shelf at her house and it was SO dramatic. You would think it was an evil idea or something! (Even though it’s so true, the elf is a tad on the creepy side!) Thanks for the humor, I appreciate it! And we have an Elf on the Shelf elf, but we just move him around every day. No crazy business with our elf! I need my sleep!! Can you imagine losing that much sleep, and in the month of December??? I don’t even want to think about that.

    • I read that post before and agree! Rest assured, I do not want to punch any of you elf families in the throat, lol. That is a bit much.

      You reminded me that a nap sounds nice. I would probably cry if I lost any more sleep than I do now, haha. Heading over to enter your giveaway! I could think of about a dozen things we need from Williams Sonoma.

  185. I don’t find the little guy to be creepy because my mom used to decorate with elves that looked exactly like him for years. However, the thoughts of him having the run of the place is just a little much…I always thought it was cute when mom made it look like the elves were helping decorate the tree by climbing a tiny ladder, but if they were to be in different spots the next day…all those elves may have found themselves in a plastic bag!!! Plus, aren’t parents too busy with EVERYTHING else in life to worry about moving an elf around every night?!? Just to cause a child to be scared for life? I think steering clear of this “tradition” would be best for me and my clan!

  186. Ok this was HILARIOUS! First of all, I am doing this ‘elf thing’ for the first time this year but it’s not “Elf on a Shelf” – it’s “Elf Magic” – which is the same concept, except with a cute elf that you chose (boy, girl, and you chose the hair) and this elf does not stay put and watch you. This elf wants to be loved and played with… but yes, she does hide in the middle of the night or get into a bit of trouble. Now. I have skipped “Elf on the Shelf” all these years because I am a loser, haha. I’m not into Santa – I’d rather celebrate Jesus. I’m not into the stories (Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy) so I didn’t want to make up this dumb Elf. But I finally gave in. This new Elf seemed cuter and not so creepy. And it’s so hard to be so strict with a 3 year old when she goes to school and she is hearing of Santa, reindeer and Frosty… I gave in. I’m a hypocrite.

  187. YES, I totally agree that they are creepy looking. Last year my son heard about the elf on the shelf at his school from the other kids. He begged me not to get one and said he didn’t like it. So what happened? My mom-in-law bought one this year and he is scared to death of the thing. I really can’t blame him, though. He won’t go anywhere near it at night by himself. He swears it moves when he is alone and near it. lol!

  188. Hooray, I have older kids so I don’t have to do the Elf! I watch what everyone else is doing and I think, I’d have the lame elf on the blogging block. Mine would sit in a box the first week. Then it would sit on the counter. Finally, my 9yo would probably get sick of me forgetting to do the Elf thing and do it for me. I don’t get it either, and I’m happy to do a duet with you!

  189. HAHA!! Nope! We don’t do it either! Mostly because my Husband says everything you just did. LOL I am one of those dorky Mom’s that would get a kick out of creeping out the kids with the elf. (Although, if I woke up and that Elf was anywhere EXCEPT where I left him I think I would poop in my pants and then the little guy would be GONE!) 🙂

  190. I have no reasons. I just don’t do it. Maybe it it because my mother-in-law wants me to do it so bad. I think I will steal your reasons next time she says something.

  191. Oh my goodness!! I love you!! I just tweeted at you that I couldn’t wait to check out your blog without first looking at it and seeing that I follow you on Facebook and DO read your blog!! I love this post. I so agree!!! We did it last year, and I can’t decide it I want to do it again! Ugh!

  193. I am the first person to admit the thing is creepy as all get out.

    When I’m moving it at night I keep expecting it to turn its head at me and say “This isn’t where I would put me…”
    I have to hide it when I’m working and ban it from my office because it feels like its eyes are boring in to the back of my head.

    But we do it. My husband was deployed last Christmas, and is overseas again this year. So we tell my daughter that he is going to Korea every night to give Daddy a hug for her before going on to the North Pole and that Daddy tells him where he should go every day.

    But the thing is just short of standing up and walking around with a knife.

    • I’m torn between laughing and getting choked up, so sweet. And yet so very creepy. That elf better stick to his duties and leave you guys be! No knives.

      HUGS! I will be thinking of you and your family and praying for a safe and quick deployment.

    • You would have been “harsh” about why you weren’t doing it. It’s an elf, calm down!

    • Lmao! Steph! YES! DITTO.true story my insanely inappropriate friend created a whole instagram to her two elves (one boy and one girl) doing REALLY awful Stuff! It was hilariously terrible. Picture Buddy tied up with barbies and the girl elf. …yeaaaaahhhh stuff like that lol she’s insane lol

  196. Have you seen the movie? I think it came out last year. I think it helps explain the real reason behind the elf (who also creeps me out!). We do it, but our elf is not naughty and does not leave messes. That was not what they were meant to do. She (Yes, we got the adorable skirt to turn ours into a girl, which I must say makes the vintage eyes a bit more bearable) simply watches over things during the day and reports back to the North Pole every night. That is why she may be in a new spot the next day. Last year was our first year and I, too, am horrible at it so there were many nights she did not move and I simply said that sometimes she takes a night off to get some sleep or that she just saves up her observations to tell Santa the next time she goes. I keep it very simple and I am not too hard on myself and I rarely even use it to keep the kids in line. I do say, when I catch them being good, that Snowflake (that’s what they named her! Guess I should have expected that since they saw the movie the night before our elf arrived!) just saw something very magical and that is what she is looking for to go back to Santa with so keep it up! My kids are 5, 4 and 1 and ever since Thanksgiving (yes it was supposed to be THE day after but who cares, I will ease up on myself on that one too since we didn’t get our tree the night we thought we would) they cannot wait for Snowflake to arrive! I had no idea she made that big of an impression or that they would remember! It’s awesome for tradition, making memories and getting into the spirit. But I also, totally agree with EVERYTHING you posted! 😉

  197. You can do whatever you want! We know the author, so opted in! But in rankin bass’ scripts, the elf’s name is Hermey, which is what we named our elf. Buddy is the number one name in the nation for an elf!

    • that is so cool that you know him! Is it Hermey in the movie? I was going back and forth when I was writing the post. Love that you picked that name 🙂

      • Thanks! Yes, it is Hermey in the movie, although through marketing, his name has undergone some unfortunate phases. 🙂

  198. Ha ha…my oldest is 10 and no longer believes, my others are 6 and 8 and still believe. I told myself I would NEVER EVER get one, guess what? I got one today, yup, I can’t even believe it. My kids have been begging for one and for years I said no no and no. Then when I go to my friends and see the excitement in the kids eyes everyday when they tell me to find elf i caved. I just want to create memories for them, they grow so fast. We also have a advent callendar and have a activity a day that we do with the family 🙂

  199. I so agree with you. I don’t get it either. Why in the world would I have an elf come and make messes in my house that I then have to clean up? I have a hard enough time cleaning up the messes my family and I make! Now, an elf that comes and cleans my house while I sleep?? That’s what I need!!!!

    • Here is what I don’t get…..This elf appears so that he can watch your kids and report to Santa every night if they have been naughty or nice…..In the process of this he himself is being naughty. Does this concept not defeat the purpose of “Elf on the shelf”?

      Our Elf only hides….and on nights I forget to move him I tell my kids they were being naughty and Elf didn’t want to tell Santa so he stayed where he was hoping they would be nicer that day.

  200. This is the second year I have done elf on the shelf. My kids love it. It’s so much fun to watch my kids come downstairs looking for “Sheldon”. Last year all Sheldon did was hide. This year he is going to cause some more trouble, not every night but once in awhile. Kids grow up so fast, I want to treasure the little magic things they believe in. I have taught them what Christmas is really about and they don not get a a lot of gifts, in fact they go through their toys every couple months and donate the unused ones to charity. We have gone over how fortunate we are to have a house and food on the table. The elf on the shelf may be all of those things listed above but I personally will sacrifice 5 minutes out of my busy, chaotic life to bring a little wonder and mystery to my kids 🙂

    • Good for you. I am sixteen but I would have loved an Elf on the Shelf when I was younger. All these people saying it creeps them out are just making excuses because they are too lazy to take five minutes out of their day for ten days a year to hide an elf. Please guys just let your kid have some fun. Thank you.

      • Elf is fucking creepy, people who do it are those caddy chicks who have to do what all their friends are doing, people who don’t have a true sense of humor about this stupid fad.
        And let your kids have fun?! I bet you there are a crap load of kids that will have night sweats of this little horror, yeah sorry but I’m a great mom sticking with traditional Christmas & the usual time outs for reprimanding no elf needed to do any of the above here.

    • Love it!!! U put it all into perspective in a nutshell!! A big thumbs up for U Rebecca!..

    • We love our Elf and you said it right!! Kids grow up way too fast and there’s nothing wrong with believing in magic!! Seeing as I have three daughters I want to keep them young and innocent as long as I can! If that means I have a mischievous elf running around then so be it 🙂

  201. I’m not doing it either. Its a cute idea, but I don’t have time for it, its a struggle in the morning as it is. And yup, he does look creepy. And its expensive!

    • I didn’t realize how expensive he was! Add this to the list:

      8. They are ridiculously expensive and unless I find one at a garage sale, I am not buying that darn thing. The only doll worth that much is an American Girl doll.

  202. We started Elf on a Shelf a couple of years ago. My daughter is 7 now. I don’t use it as a behavioral tool or to guilt her into being good. It is just fun for her to wake up every morning and find where he is hiding. I DO NOT allow him to make a mess in my house either. He is only allowed to hide. It is hard to remember to change his hiding place every night. There has been more than one occassion where I have awoken in a panic to go move him before she gets up. lol It’s all harmless fun though.

  203. First, no need to apologize. Second, I couldn’t be more thrilled to have dodged the shelf elf bullet as my kids are too old. You are not alone 🙂

  204. We were given one years and years ago before they were in stores. I think my Step_Mom said she found it at some Christmas fair all I was told was you move it every night. I never knew anything about messes and crazy antics until Pinterest came along. Boy did I suck at the Elf thing and my kid is one of those get up first thing in the morning and run around the house to look for the thing. My husband and I had many mornings where we were distracting him and launching that little red devil across the house just to relocate it so we wouldn’t ruin the magic. It’s seriously a pain in the butt however he loves it. I do admit that I did do some silly things last year and the kids loved it but this year Momma’s tired. I do agree with you that it doesn’t really make since for the Elf to misbehave but the kids aren’t suppose to but like I said before I don’t think that was the original thought behind the elf, he’s just suppose to move around the house. Creepy, I know, even my son said he creeped him out but he still liked him. Whatever, we’ll do it as long as the kids want to.

    • Same story here!!! LOL!!! We`ve had “Pete” since my daughters first Christmas. It was given to us as a gift as zip had never heard of it before that. BTW, my daughter is 6 now so she was 5 years old this las Christmas As she got older, maybe by the time se was 3, the FIRST THING she did when she opened her eyes was go see where “Pete” was and what kind of trouble he had gotten into!! Lol!! But last year for some reason she stating crying saying that the elf was creepy. So I said I would tell him not to come that year. But she said’ “No mommy I love him and want I’m to come!!!” Go figure!! I didn’t get it but did as she wished and quickly got over it! I TRIED to do something creative with him EVERY NIGHT but of course there are many mornings I had to scramble putting him somewhere different so she didn’t get upset that he didn’t “fly” around!!! Its definitely a pain but my daughter loves him so of course I will continue to do nutty stuff until she’s too old (which I think will b this year). But u til then our elf will will make messes AND creep me out!!!

      • awwww, you’re such a good mom, Andrea! I bet my kids would love the idea if I ever decide to ignore the fact that he’s creepy, haha.

        and mistakes?! Psh. Mistakes are my BFF so you’re good 🙂

        Thanks for commenting!!

  205. I don’t think it’s horrible to do the Santa thing or the Elf thing, but I agree with Lisa that we focus on Christ at Christmas. It’s not about being a “fun” parent to me. It’s about teaching our children what it’s all about. I will definitely say weeeee are never doing Santa or Elf. 🙂

    • I absolutely agree, I don’t think it’s evil or horrible by any means. Many of my friends are doing it and they are so creative with it! Maybe we can sneak our Fisher Price baby Jesus around the room and play baby Jesus on the shelf? 🙂 Thanks so much for the comment, Amanda!

      • Whenever I have kids, I want to have Mary and Joseph travel day by day to “Bethlehem” under the Christmas tree. On Christmas morning, my kids will together first open one small gift, the baby Jesus figurine that goes into the nativity scene!

      • When I first heard of “Elf on the Shelf” I thought how cute, all you do is find a cute lil shelf to put him on. Then BAM, all of a sudden the little “Elf” is doing all kinds of things, making messes. hiding and just getting into trouble, but taking a bath with Barbie Dolls, NAKED ones at that, NOT good, what kind of examples are you setting for your kids? Have any of you thought about that? I admit I have gotten a laugh or two at some of the situations people have put their Elf in, but that’s adult stuff, we know right from wrong (well, most of us do) but think about what your little ones are thinking, they are thinking that if the “ELF” can do it, then I can, so, when your kids get a little older and starts doing some of these things, what are you gonna do when they get caught? Are you gonna yell at them, put them in time out? Even ground them? But then they say, Well that little red “Elf” we had used to do it and you thought it was funny, then what? You are suppose to set a good example for our kids, I am not saying every parent has to be perfect, we all make mistakes, but come on, make mistakes that are not gonna screw up your kids or worst of all, possible put them in jail some day. If you have that much time on your hands to come up with some of the distasteful things your Elf is doing you can come up with some age appropriate things, like – sitting on different shelves. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

  206. Ha! You’re not the only one. Im a little OCD so my husband would probably think me crazy if I let a little elf run around making messes. We received the elf and book and elf as a gift when he first came out. I didn’t know until reading several blog posts last year, that you were supposed to do something with him. I guess they cover that in the book?! Guess what we didn’t read the book. I just set him out because my kids like him and they think that he will sneak off at night to tell Santa if they aren’t good. I have a little wooden elf that came into our family way before this elf on the shelf character and he has a poem about letting Santa know about naughty kids. So that’s all my elves do.

  207. hey! We don’t even do santa, so the elf is a no go around here! (by the way I need to blog!!) We do put up a Christmas Tree and have gifts and all that fun, but I try to focus Christmas around Christ’s birth. I had never heard of this elf thing until I started reading blogs a couple years ago. Then I saw one last Christmas at a book store. That’s all I know. I agree, the elf is creepy. 😉

  208. Nopers…we are not doing it! I am not a big fan of playing behavioral manipulation with my kiddos, and I expect them to have good behavior ALL year…so those are my serious reasons…creepy YES and 39.99 ewww not for a singular item that only comes out to guilt my kiddos…i would rather reward their great behavior…and im a bit like you…completely disorganized…i would totally forget!

    • I realize I’m a year late on this topic, but I’m google is good for finding old blog posts like that. Is this thing really $40? And does the Elf have to make a mess?

      • Our elf used to only move to different hiding spots every night….but he jumped on the bandwagon and started being mischievous this year and it’s only been 3 days!. Ugh.

      • No, I bought our elf in July for $12 and I do not make messes to clean up, The worst part is coming up with different places and things to do for 25 days each year. I forgot one day and remembered while my daughter was sitting in front of my putting her shoes on for school, she got up to leave the room, I grabbed the elf and sat in my daughter’s seat in LR and plopped the remote in it’s arms. Done. And I do not use it to manipulate my child, either, she is 17 yrs old and we have had the elf since last year….it is just fun to watch a kid that age look for her elf. Merry Christmas!

  209. I so agree! I think the thought of a short little guy creeping around the house after I go to bed is just weird! Strange…actually never heard of it until I started reading others blogs!

  210. Haha number five made me laugh! No fun allowed, ever! We don’t do elf on a shelf either, I don’t get it. I do make my kids a video from Santa through the portable north pole. That is super fun for my kids. 🙂

  211. I had never heard of this elf until last year which isn’t surprising I guess since our boys are only two, and they aren’t interested in anything Christmas, other than Christmas music.
    I don’t think we will ever do elf on the shelf, and I agree with all your reasons. I really don’t get how it is supposed to get them to be good, and I do not want to clean up that mess too. 🙂

  212. Haha! Too cute! We are not doing Elf On The Shelf… But we ARE doing Christopher Pop-In-Kins for the first time this year. He’s a MUCH cuter Elf who doesn’t create messes. He just needs to be “up high and out of reach”. I am hoping that I can be creative enough with my placements. I don’t have to try too hard (this year) as our oldest is only 2. 🙂

  213. Haha! This made me laugh. I am actually doing Elf on the Shelf for the very first time this year. The only reason I decided to do it was to use him as a threat to make my kids behave. (i.e. “Elf is watching! Don’t hit your brother!, or “Elf is watching! Clean up your toys!”) I’m sure I will mess it up, so I totally get where you are coming from! And I agree, he is a little creepy.

  214. Stay strong!! that thing creeps me out too – I don’t get the fascination with him and I’m surprised people will fork over their money to hallmark for it.

  215. Love it. Very funny. My son is twenty two now but I wouldn’t do this either. Not to mention I’ve been scared of dolls since a twilight episode I saw when I was five. 🙂

    • I STILL have nightmares about that episode!! And no, we didn’t know he existed when my girls were little, and I don’t think he will be making appearances at a future “grandma”s house. 😉

      • You response is so timely because my son and I saw this Elf at Barnes and Noble yesterday and were talking about how creepy it is! had forgotten about this blog post. 🙂

    • Molly, that’s so funny, because I had nightmares as a kid when I saw that episode of Twilight Zone as well. It still freaks me out when I see it today and I am 57 years old!
      Makes me wonder If any kids have had nightmares of The Elf on the Shelf! Lol

  216. hahaha I was just debating this the other night with the Mister. I was all “we should totally do that when we have kids” and attempted an explanation of how it worked. His response: “Isn’t that kind of creepy?” So apparently we won’t be doing it either. 😛

    • I had a similar discussion with my husband. I asked “have you heard of Elf on a Shelf?” and he got pretty fired up, haha. There’s always time to change his mind, and maybe some day we’ll do it, but I am seeing his side on this one. 😉

      Thanks, Nicole! Good to see ya.

  217. You are not aloooooone. I am her with yooooou! Oh sorry, I thought we were singing. In all seriousness, the elf totally creeps me out too! We aren’t doing for the exact same reasons you aren’t. Did I mention he’s creepy? We’ll do some other messy Christmas project that will only have to be cleaned up once. Because I said so! Maybe I’ll start Grinch on The Table. He just sits there…on the table…bah humbugging…silently 🙂

  218. Haha, the elves creep me out too. Well really, any doll like creature is creepy to me. We are lame and don’t do fun stuff either, no elves on the shelves, and very few if any Christmas gifts. That’s the benefit of having kids who are 4 and 2 and don’t know to beg for Christmas gifts. ;P

      • I dont like them either or other dolls!!!! my kids r 7 and 11 we do xmas but they dont believe in santa. Ive never taught them (and its nothing religious) I believe that if Im going to bust my hump to work extra to buy them presents I want credit for it!!! I dont want them thinking some fat guy theyve never even seen did something so spectacular for them!!!

        • To me, that’s selfish. Christmas is about family, togetherness, and celebrating the birth of Jesus. Not presents and how you want credit. I’m sorry but jmo.

          • I dont think it’s selfish at all. The message being sent is ‘mom loves you, loves having you in her life’.

            if you give presents to represent that, then there’s no reason to pretend that santa exists and thus also loves the kids.

          • Not everyone celebrates Christmas the way you do. For some of us, it’s about giving and enjoying time with our family. You can keep Christ in Christmas all you want, but that judgmental tone tells me we need more Christ in our Christians.

        • Agreed. It’s not selfish to tell your kids the truth. I chose not to lie and my son enjoys the “magic” of Christmas just as well. No elf here. As if I have the time to create messes and then clean them up. Christmas here is about the birth of the Savior and family times. I don’t get to caught up in the hustle and bustle and I don’t have to take a second mortgage out to survive. Lol team truth here! The elf is dumb…..

      • im not doin the elf thingy either they to creepy lookin they kinda look possesed like any min there heads are gonna spin like in a horror movie (lol) ant these elves date back from the late 50’s and now someons cashing in on them.

        • I’ve been a Mom for 32+ years. The “original” Elf on the Shelf was imaginary, to make up for an “Oops…..I found another present when putting away the Christmas Decorations”!
          You simply blamed “The elf on the shelf”, gave the gift (unless you wanted to save it for a birthday or next Christmas), & carried on with your day, as if it wasn’t a big deal!!
          Then someone wrote a book, marketed it with these creepy dolls, & it became something totally different than the original purpose (to cover for your forgetful gift hiding!).
          So drop the guilt, & if you find an extra gift or two in January, blame an Imaginary “Elf on the shelf” who forgot to wrap it! Have a good laugh, some cocoa & cookies, & all is good!!
          Merry Christmas!!
          Love your Blog!!

    • They didn’t have these either when I was a kid, or when our son was a kid. But we did have a game in our house. We told the kid there was always a little North Pole elf lurking about somewhere, very hard to find, but he knows where you are, and he wants to make sure you’re good. That didn’t scare or upset the kid at all. In fact, he went on elf hunts all over the house. Yeah, he made a few messes.

    • Hey creep me out too but I still have one when you go to bed leave a note for your elf not allowing it to go into your (or any) bedrooms that’s what I did and then you just shut your door and go to sleep

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About Ann Marie

Ann Marie Heasley

Hello! My goal is to help you seek beauty in your everyday life. Here I’ll share my experiences and offer tips on how to simplify, seek beauty, create a home you enjoy, or declutter through my annual #40bagsin40days challenge.

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