Recently, there have been a lot of Elf on the Shelf posts around the internet. (We are no exception here at CMB.) These posts typically fall into two categories:
- Calendars and ideas about how to pose your elf this holiday season. I would even put the posts that spoof this concept into this category.
- Hatred of the Elf posts… and yes, I do mean hatred. The posts that fall into this category have an angry tone to them that I have been at a loss to explain.
I am actually not a huge fan of the Elf myself. I think he is cheaply made and don’t understand the infatuation and intensity with which he caught on. I was unfamiliar with him when I had kids and I had no intention of purchasing one. Then, came the Christmas when he just appeared (like the magic in the story!) in the form of two separate presents from two separate people. I waived the white flag.
Before you elf haters lecture me on not holding to my principles… let me tell you why. When I was growing up, my family did not celebrate St. Nick’s Day. We did not get presents left in our shoes in early December like everyone else in my social circles seemed to get in those days. I still remember the sadness and confusion I felt in my younger grade school years when I did not understand why I got left out of this piece of the holiday season and later how it led me to an early realization that Santa was not the magic I believed him to be. So, when it came to the elf… I caved because he has (like it or not) become a norm and I don’t want my kids to feel like they are missing some of that holiday magic.
Is this silly reasoning? Probably.
Is this caving to societal peer pressure? Absolutely.
Is it awful? Not at all.
Here is what our elf (Chocolate) is to my kids:
- Fun… This year at ages 3 and 5, they are really getting a kick out of the scavenger hunt that is the elf on the shelf. Every morning this December has been incredibly easy to get them out of bed, not because they worry about being watched, but because they want to see if they can find him.
- Magic… they buy into the story of him being a friend of Santa’s, not as a watchdog, but as a piece of the innocence that makes the holidays so much fun for this age.
Here is what Chocolate is for me:
- Joy… I love the giggles I get to hear when they find Chocolate hanging from someplace silly or eating a snack in their dollhouse.
- Work… He is exhausting, I will admit that. I have already forgotten to move him once (thankfully, their Dad did not). I don’t go crazy with the creative calendars, he literally just gets moved. Could I do without it? Sure. Is it hurting me to play along? No.
So, here is what I have to say about the matter. If people want to go crazy over the elf, by all means, let them go crazy. Let them print their calendars, plan their elven silliness, buy the accessories. If it makes them happy, who are we to judge? If you hate the elf, hate the elf, no one has the right to judge you either. But, can we agree to disagree? Can we step away from the intensity of the argument that is circling around a cheaply made plastic elf? Let’s let the decision about whether or not we embrace the tradition of the elf, be an individual one. To each their own.
