Elf on the Shelf – Fun or Torture for Parents?

Word on the street is that parents either love coming up with fun, creative ways to display their family’s Elf on the Shelf or have a visceral reaction to even thinking about another place in the house to stage it. This is our first year embarking on the journey. We got off to a great start, then on day 4, we realized in the early morning hours that we forgot to move our Elf. Never in my life have I broken out into a cold sweat so fast. I quickly realized why fellow mom friends set a calendar reminder every night on their phones. I have since set 2, just in case.

As a rookie EOTS parent, I don’t have many words of wisdom to impart on what it takes to be a parent who thrives in this role. However, a couple of weeks in, I have an idea of what it takes to make sure this year’s Elf on the Shelf experience is memorable in a good way.

1.    Set Calendar Reminder – See above.

2.    Keep Elf High Up – This removes the temptation to touch the Elf for your little ones even if they understand they shouldn’t.

3.    Have a Plan – Planning doesn’t mean having 25 straight days decided down to longitudinal location but having a few ideas to pull from along the way.

4.    Use Kids’ Toys – Kids seem to get a kick out of anything the Elf is around, and when it’s their things, it’s a big crowd-pleaser. The Elf hanging off of a light fixture is cool, but the Elf sitting in the driver’s seat of a Lego car is epic.

5.    Don’t Stress Yourself Out – It might be a cute idea to roll your Elf around in flour like they were working hard overnight to bake cookies, but if the thought of cleaning that mess up brings about those cold sweats again, just put Elf on top of a box of cookies and call it a day.

The jury might still be out on whether Elf on the Shelf is truly fun or torture for parents, but in our short stint on EOTS parents, we are having a blast. Yes, there was the night that I almost ruined Christmas for our 5-year-old when I forgot to move it until the early morning hours, and the night when I almost broke a vase in our home trying to Cirque du Soleil the Elf from vase to picture frame, but the smiles and excitement we get to see every morning as our boys make their way downstairs to find out where the Elf landed after her overnight travels, are worth the cold sweats and heart palpitations.

So, cheers to every EOTS parent out there. Enjoy it, embrace it, and Calendar Reminder it.