Once again, we’re back in the thick of the holiday season. If your social media is anything like mine, you’re bound to see (for better or for worse) all the pictures of your friends, their kids, and what shenanigans their Elf on the Shelf is up to this year. I don’t know when Elf on the Shelf started invading my timeline, but I do know that it went from a steady creep to an explosion and then back down again as children aged out. If you’ve ever wondered, “What is Elf on the Shelf” or wanted to know the Elf on the Shelf story, then read on!
What is Elf on the Shelf?
What is the point of Elf on the Shelf?
As with many popular trends, some parents love it and are fully on board, embracing the fun and whimsical part of the tradition. Other parents are… not as enthusiastic.
For parents who love the Elf on the Shelf, it’s a fun and creative way to interact with their children. Kids love to wake up and hunt throughout the house to find where their elf is every morning, and it’s a chance for some parents to flex their imagination. Plus, sometimes parents just need a way to get their kids to listen, and the elf is a nice scapegoat (or carrot).
Of course, it can become a headache to come up with new and interesting hiding places, so folks like the Wortheys are invaluable to desperate parents. “The kids will be on to you if the elf doesn’t move for a few days, and that’s the last thing you need!” mother of three boys Tatanisha Worthey said on her blog. She recommended parents not stress out, and even came up with ideas like a “quarantine period” for when the elf first arrives (which buys you a few days of not moving the elf). She also gave permission to repeat some ideas during a given period. After all, even elves get tired, right?
Not everyone is on board though. Some parents think it’s grooming children to accept the concept of an entity constantly watching and reporting on your behavior in private.
“I don’t want to sound like a Grinch, but we shouldn’t be celebrating seasonal surveillance,” Albert Fox Cahn told The New York Times. The executive director of civil rights and privacy group Surveillance Technology Oversight Project added that it was “a terrible message for kids.”
Ultimately, it’s up to you. If it helps you get the kids to behave during the holidays — great! If you hate it because of privacy concerns or because it’s too much effort, don’t do it. In the end, Elf on the Shelf is supposed to be fun and provide years of memories with your children, not be a burden or a nuisance.
