First off if you haven’t heard of Elf on the Shelf, where the heck have you been? The Elf on a Shelf is a book and miniature elf packaged together as a “fun” holiday tradition. Millions of people buy this book and read the story of how Santa’s elves are stationed at kid’s houses around the world watching to see if they are naughty or nice. Each night, these elves return to the North Pole to report to Santa. The other interesting part of the story is that the elf is not allowed to be touched, or else he will lose his magic. Each child then names their elf and is told for the next 2 days (til Christmas) the elf will be watching over them. So far, this sounds a little creepy.
Where the fun comes in is when the elf returns every morning in a different part of the house and the children have to find him. Now I believe the intention was just to move the little elf around on the mantelpiece, to the kitchen, onto a bookcase, etc for the 25 days of Christmas. But as the years have rolled on people have become a little more imaginative as they move their elf around the house and place him into compromising positions. These same people have chronicled their elves movements on their blogs.
This year was the first time I heard about the Elf on the Shelf and I have to say, the main reason I did NOT do it this year is not because it has nothing to do with the real meaning of Christmas, or because it tries to scare children into being nice (if you’re not nice, the elf will report back), or because the elf is slightly creepy. The main reason I did not want to do it this year is because, let’s face it I really don’t have the time or headspace to come up with creative places to move the elf not once, but multiple times until Christmas.
This is perhaps the funniest thing I have read about The Elf on the Shelf and how overboard some people are going with moving their elf around the house. Remember, as the mama of the house the job will likely be yours to move the elf around each night after the kiddies go to bed. Wouldn’t you rather be relaxing with your feet up rather than creating elaborate elf scenarios for the kids to find the next day? Apparently millions of parents would not. Did you read the link at the beginning of this paragraph? You should. It is the groanings of a mother who practices the tradition a little begrudgingly. I promise you, it’s funny.
After you’ve read that, check out the top 5 photographic ideas for The Elf on the Shelf that I have seen around the web. If you’re stuck for the last 7 days of moving your elf around or just want to marvel at the creativity of these bloggers, click on through to see what their elves are up to.
Lil Blue Boo : 18 great ideas and photos here as well as her almost R-rated ideas for your Elf on the Shelf.
Living Locurto : a posing guide for your elf with 25 ideas, including having your elf show up with “seeds” to be planted that sprout into gingerbread men a few days later.
The Arthur Clan : Their elf Ollie is pretty well mannered.
Mommy upgrade: Cute story of how their elf Chintz was introduced to their 3 year old daughter.
Mama Cheaps: their elf Oboe is somewhat cheeky too. She has compiled a master list of everywhere he has been found the last 3 Christmases.
Do you take part in The Elf on the Shelf tradition? If not, would you consider doing it in the future or is it just not your cup of tea? I’d love to live vicariously through you and hear and see what you are up to with your elf.
Thanks for the link back! We have a love-hate relationship with our elf, LOL. We love the reaction he gets from our daughter, Lily. Hate those mornings when we realize we forgot to move him the night before. 🙂
Oh, I couldn’t deal with the million and one questions not moving him would elicit from my 4 year old. But, I am tempted to give it a go next year. Happy holidays!
This is hysterical! I shared it with my readers and showed it to my husband because we have 2 elf of the shelfs-lol!
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Thanks, Melissa. I hope you are enjoying your elves and that they aren’t too mischievous!
Hey, thanks for the shout out! We are having a blast. I say that as I am furiously trying to think of tonight’s elf adventure….
Trista recently posted..Elf on the Shelf haters: Hit me with your best shot
Thank you so much for linnking to my “Elf on the Shelf” post. I have to mention that it helps tremendously that I have two older children who no longer believe in Santa and they are in charge of moving Ollie (our Elf on the Shelf) each evening. Without them helping, our Elf would probably have been sitting in the same place for the whole month and the magic definitely would have been ruined for my two younger boys who still believe. 🙂
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You could certainly see your enthusiasm within the article you write.
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Great delivery. Sound arguments. Keeep up the amazing spirit.
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