Now I feel like a jerk, lol. I'm sure we'll do Santa. And Christmas at my house will be nothing BUT magical. Santa or not. We even dress up the damn dog.
My mom gave my kids an Elf on the Shelf. At first I was less than enthused, but I have become a total elf convert. We had SO much fun with our elf last year (a girl, named Ernie, btw). I have never stressed the whole "the elf is watching you/will report back to Santa" angle, as it seems a little creepy, and I am not into using Santa as a parenting crutch to get kids to behave. But I love making the elf do silly, fun stuff. Last year he hung DS1's underwear on the Christmas tree, had a marshmellow "snowball" fight with some action figures, drew silly faces on our family pictures with window markers, got caught sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and the remote, made snow angels on the counter out of sugar, etc. He also brought the advent calendar when he first appeared on December 1 and left the kids little gifts every now and then--a pair of Christmas socks, that fake snow you make in a test tube, a new Christmas book, supplies to make Christmas cookies one Saturday, etc. And when we had to leave town to go to my IL's for Christmas, Ernie left coloring books for the plane and a note reassuring the kids that Santa knew they would be out of town and would find them there, which was very reassuring to DS1, who was concerned about the fact that we were traveling.
I know a lot of parents are not down with all the make believe stuff, but I grew up with Santa, elves (not an Elf on the Shelf, but invisible elves who left little treats now and then leading up to Christmas), the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy, the birthday fairy (she made lollipops grow in the yard on your b-day), etc. and LOVED every minute of it. Honestly, I think DS1 already senses that it is all just pretend, but it is so fun to suspend disbelief and play along. I like a little magic with my childhood.
I don't think we're going to do Santa either, but that's because I didn't grow up in the US and we don't do Santa where I'm from. We visit him at malls, parks or wherever and take pictures, but he doesn't give us gifts. It's just not something I'm used to and not something my family or most people I know do. I don't know, I'm still thinking about it.
No kidding. How much time does it take to put the Elf in a new place? Not to mention the distraction it provides. I can see not doing Santa for religious reasons, but if you are doing Santa what is the harm? It just adds to the excitement for children and gives them something to look forward to each day, like an advent calendar.
We tell our kids that they can let Santa know all the things that they want, but that Santa will only bring them a few things.
My mom gave my kids an Elf on the Shelf. At first I was less than enthused, but I have become a total elf convert. We had SO much fun with our elf last year (a girl, named Ernie, btw). I have never stressed the whole "the elf is watching you/will report back to Santa" angle, as it seems a little creepy, and I am not into using Santa as a parenting crutch to get kids to behave. But I love making the elf do silly, fun stuff. Last year he hung DS1's underwear on the Christmas tree, had a marshmellow "snowball" fight with some action figures, drew silly faces on our family pictures with window markers, got caught sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and the remote, made snow angels on the counter out of sugar, etc. He also brought the advent calendar when he first appeared on December 1 and left the kids little gifts every now and then--a pair of Christmas socks, that fake snow you make in a test tube, a new Christmas book, supplies to make Christmas cookies one Saturday, etc. And when we had to leave town to go to my IL's for Christmas, Ernie left coloring books for the plane and a note reassuring the kids that Santa knew they would be out of town and would find them there, which was very reassuring to DS1, who was concerned about the fact that we were traveling.
I know a lot of parents are not down with all the make believe stuff, but I grew up with Santa, elves (not an Elf on the Shelf, but invisible elves who left little treats now and then leading up to Christmas), the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy, the birthday fairy (she made lollipops grow in the yard on your b-day), etc. and LOVED every minute of it. Honestly, I think DS1 already senses that it is all just pretend, but it is so fun to suspend disbelief and play along. I like a little magic with my childhood.
Oh my gosh, how do you possibly have time for all this? (tongue in cheek)
Oh my gosh, how do you possibly have time for all this? (tongue in cheek)
Well, I don't do other more important (but less enjoyable for me) things, like working out or cleaning my house.
Honestly, it's not that much time. The nights that I am busy/tired, the elf just does something lame (like sitting on a shelf ). He pulls a cool stunt maybe a couple times a week, and that takes maybe 5-15 minutes to set up. I admit that it is probably a silly thing to spend any time on, but it's fun for me. I would never encourage a parent to bother with this kind of crap if they don't derive any enjoyment out of it. I am not under any illusions that one needs a mischievious elf in order to have a fun childhood, but it is definitely a fun thing for our family.
Post by ilikedonuts on Nov 20, 2012 19:35:51 GMT -5
I think stuff like this is one of the things (Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy) DH and I were most excited for when DD was born. Hell, she's not even old enough to understand it this year and we bought Elf on the Shelf because she grabbed it at Target one day last week.
Also, the elf is genius. Something that spies to encourage good behavior? Sign me right up. I will be pimping the hell out of that thing when Lu is naughty this season. He might even stick around post Christmas.
We grew up with elf spies. There were two of them. One sat on a shelf in the kitchen, to make sure we ate our dinner, and the other sat in the bathroom to make sure our hands and teeth were clean. They didn't move or do anything fun, and I totally believed in them. Last Christmas, my mom gave one to me and one to my sister. I was thrilled. (If I get a chance I will post a picture of mine) My mom is bitter about the whole elf on a shelf phenomenon, since she had thought of it forty years ago. .
We all believed in Santa for a really long time. My mom made it magical and fun and we were reluctant to stop believing. I have a hard time, on the years we don't go to her house, recreating the magic for my own kids, because she does such a good job. I think I managed last year to make it magical for A, but I really struggled with it.
To the op, I would have been really annoyed if my mom gave us anything that made more work for me without asking.
Random elf on the shelf fact-- he was created by someone who went to high school with my husband.
Aww. Well maybe just try moving him around the house? You don't have to be super creative like some people get on Pinterest (like having the elf go fishing in the sink or whatever). But I doubt it'll be difficult just to move him around.
Post by SusanBAnthony on Nov 21, 2012 8:32:15 GMT -5
I am happy to move a .little elf around and play with it. I am NOT ok with the porting back to Santa crap, and I would nip that right in the bud.
On the other hand, I am one of those people who tells my kids things like "Santa couldn't really deliver all those presents, Santa couldn't really fit down a chimney, reindeer don't really fly."
I am happy to move a .little elf around and play with it. I am NOT ok with the porting back to Santa crap, and I would nip that right in the bud.
On the other hand, I am one of those people who tells my kids things like "Santa couldn't really deliver all those presents, Santa couldn't really fit down a chimney, reindeer don't really fly."
I'll never forget the Christmas when I was starting to figure it all out. We went out of town and all left the house at the same time. When we arrived back home we opened the door and entered together. Santa came! I had a shiny new bike under the tree. So fun! I could not figure out how it happened, so I believed for a little longer. (Neighbors had a key and played elf for my parents).