Hellobee Boards

You could tell your LOs that you talked to Santa and since he was short on elves, you decided your kids were good enough that you could just send him a letter. Or something like that where you as a family agreed not to do elf on the shelf.

We don't have "Elf on the Shelf" over here in the UK but, when I was little, my mum always told me that Santa's elves were watching throughout December to see if I was a good girl. It never occurred to me that I'd be able to see the elves! Perhaps you could just say that your friend's house has a particularly naughty elf who likes getting into all kinds of scrapes but most households get a sensible, quiet elf who watches from an unseen vantage point??

On a similar note - surely most children don't actually think that weird doll is a real elf???

We do Elf on a Shelf but DD knows that not all families have an elf. We tall about our elf "adoption" story so she knows we didn't always have an elf and not all families have adopted an elf for their own.

I think the responsibility here lies with your friend to correct her daughter; not eberyone has an elf, not everyone celebrates Christmas, etc... If you don't Elf on a Shelf it will probably be a few years before your LO starts asking why you don't have an elf. At which point you can explain it like any other holiday tradition. Santa visits some people, but other people celebrate different holidays, some people have adopted.elves but some people Santa just checks in on individually, some people go to church on Christmas and some people don't, etc..

We're Jewish, so we will not have an elf. Just like we do not have Santa. I don't think it's fair to say that EVERY house has these things because we don't. We don't have a Christmas tree, Christmas lights, etc.

We will make sure that our LO knows that Santa, the elf, etc. are real so that my child doesn't ruin it for the other kids, but I would be pretty offended if someone came into my house and told their LO there is an elf in my Jewish house.

I will simply tell my LO that Santa and his elf don't come to our house. We are Jewish and we celebrate Chanukah instead, and I'll start talking about the fun things that we do and explain the story of Chanukah.

@jedeve: We aren't getting on the elf train either. I have said told my kids that we don't need an elf because they behave so well. I really hope this elf on a shelf fades away quickly.

@Honeybee: I was going to say this exactly!!

@Adira: Maybe the kid is right. Maybe you do have an elf in your house and you just never noticed.

I used to think the elf on a shelf was cute and fun, but the more I read about it the more ridiculous it is!! This would tick me off and I would probably just be like, no your mom is wrong all homes don't have an elf.

@adira I know I say that and I wouldn't want to wreck it for the kid, but elf on a shelf is a genius marketing ploy!!!!

She probably told her daughter there's an elf in every house to encourage good behavior when they are visiting in other people's homes, if it were me I'd go with it!

@Honeybee: +1! I don't understand why some families don't explain to their children that other people's lives are different from their own.
I think it's actually irresponsible of the friend to insist that the story she told her daughter is true for everyone, even when there's perfectly good evidence that it's not. Especially since she's assuming OP will be doing those same traditions. Also, it really bugs me when adults treat children like they can't understand things. Like, when they think lying is better than just explaining the truth. (I don't think Elf on the Shelf/Santa are bad ideas or lies, but I do think saying "oh, the elf is hiding" *is* a lie and I feel like that is wrong)

@Adira: Hopefully you're right that when you have a child, your friend's LO will be too old to care. But if it were me, I would admit that we didn't have one and wouldn't if LO pressed me.

@LemonLong: That's a really good point, but that's also the part that bugs me about the Elf. If a child can't behave without an elf spying on them, maybe that child needs more consequences from the parents? Because, honestly, if a kid misbehaves with the Elf around is a parent really going to take away Christmas presents?

this is one of the things that bugs me the most about the elf on the shelf in the first place! it's one heck of a marketing ploy for the company, that's for sure. I really don't like the idea but it does worry me what our LO will feel like eventually if he/she is the only one without an elf! hopefully some of the PPs are right and it will fade away before my LO is old enough (I'm pregnant with our first now, due in July - so we have a couple of years, at least)!