By now, we're all familiar with Elf on the Shelf and the dozen other holiday traditions that have been spawned from it. There's the Reindeer In Here and Mischief With Stitch. There's even a small cult of parents who've come up with hilarious ways to still have the traditional Elf on the Shelf without actually moving it around each night. But this latest addition to the bunch takes the cake in a major way. Mom Julie DeForest invented Santa's Lazy Gnome, the anti-Elf and your new best friend.
The gnome is marketed as "adorable and easy to maintain. No hide and seek or silly games to keep this Santa helper around."
It comes with its own origin story in the form of an illustrated hardcover book. But, instead of moving the gnome night after night and inventing increasingly whacky scenarios for it, it just sits there. It makes note of whether kids are being naughty or nice, but there's no moving involved.
DeForest told ABC 4 she invented the gnome after her oldest child started asking when their Elf on the Shelf would arrive.
"I was not prepared for the late-night mischief, the cleaning up, so I decided to ask Santa if there were other options, and thus created Santa's Lazy Gnome," she said. "It really gets the same message across without the added stress that holidays already bring to parents everywhere — and grandparents."
The gnomes retail for $30 or you can purchase one without the accompanying book for $19.
You also get your choice of three different hat patterns — snowflakes, argyle, or polka dots. Plus, the gnomes are cute as hell. Goodbye, creepy elf grins, and hello, adorable fluff ball.
The gnome is new, but it already has fans. On Popsugar's Facebook page, many encouraged Elf on the Shelf parents to grab a gnome and take the year off.
But others said the "behavior spying" is actually what they don't like about Elf on the Shelf, and the gnome doesn't fix that.
And at least one person went to bat for the Elf, chiding other parents for not doing enough to create Christmas magic.
You do you, lady.
Whatever you choose — elf, gnome, or something else entirely — we're all #blessed that people such as DeForest are looking out for our inner lazy moms.
