From Thanksgiving to Christmas, many families hide an “Elf on the Shelf” around the house in order to participate in a common holiday tradition.
Elf on the Shelf first appeared as a Christmas tradition for the Aebersold family in 1974. In 2005, Carol and Chanda marketed their family Christmas tradition as a book entitled The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition.
The rules for the elf are simple: children should not touch the elves or else they will lose their magic, the elves are unable to speak, and they report to Santa each night about the children’s behavior. Since their release, they have skyrocketed in popularity, and more than 17.5 million elves have been sold worldwide.
Elf on the Shelf was an instant hit for many mothers, including mother of three Gracie Arias, from Waco. Quickly, she found their elf, named “Sally,” instilled Christmas wonder and helped improve behavior.
“Sally made our morning routines so much easier. My kids were so excited to wake up and get out of bed to look for her new place,” explained Arias in a blog entry on Waco Moms.
Moreover, Arias was motivated by the ideas on Pinterest to place beloved Sally in a new hiding spot every night.
However, for some parents, the elf became a burden at an already stressful time of year. Alyssa Loring, a Boston-based blogger, describes Elf on the Shelf as “a thing of nightmares.”
“Aside from being generally creepy, Elf on the Shelf is far too much work. Seriously, who has the time to come up with 24 genius ideas of what the elf should be doing in the morning when the kids wake up?” complained the mother of two in a Good Housekeeping article.
For Georgia Cobb County Circuit Judge Robert D. Leonard, the stress became so much that he released a faux order last year which banished all elves in the county. In a tweet, he called the move a “gift to tired parents.”
In the order, he recalled “a horrific incident in his own home when three children were sent to school in tears, with one child being labeled as an ‘Elf Murderer’ and accused of making the elf ‘lose his magic.’”
Despite the hassle and the early mornings hiding an elf, Stephanie Glover, Philadelphia mother of two boys, insists the new holiday tradition has earned a permanent place in her home because of her kids’ love for the tiny Scout Elf.
“I love to hear their excitement as they find him every morning. And it reminds me that the Christmas magic is still alive in my house!”
