I think this Elf on the Shelf is creepy.  I have had a dislike for that creepy doll since it exploded in popularity many years ago.  The doll’s eyes are creepy enough. And to think a doll gets up in the middle of the night and does mayhem to your house is acceptable, are you crazy? I admire the parents who have the energy to do this every night for their kids, but WHY?????

I have seen parents post pictures of an elf making messes and spreading flour everywhere.  You had to create the mess and then clean it up.  WHY?

I just don’t get it. Maybe I’m too OCD for one.

I know it’s an effort for parents to have fun with their kids in making them mind during the holidays, but goodness.

I can see this doll coming to life in the middle of the night.  It will climb on me and slice my throat while I sleep.  Yeah…that’s how my mind works with that doll.  Don’t tell me it cannot happen.  Have you not seen Child’s Play?

One year my friend bought me a miniature elf on the shelf as a joke.  That thing is tucked tightly in a drawer so it cannot get out.  I would think by now it has suffocated and died.

Kudos to the parents who don’t mind making messes and cleaning up afterwards to get your kids to behave.  When I was a kid, my dad just had to give me a look.  My mom would say, “…because I said so.”  That was enough for me.  I knew my boundaries.  They were the bosses.  I was the child. Don’t freak out…I’m not hating on parents who do this…I just see the joy of it.

I grew up very poor in a Christian home.  I wasn’t a Santa Claus kid.  Christmas in my home was all about the birth of Jesus.  There weren’t false pretenses of telling Santa all I wanted on my list at Christmas.  I don’t remember ever writing a list. That could have been a way for my mom to protect me from the disappointment knowing she couldn’t give me a stack of gifts.  There wasn’t a ‘Santa is watching’ mindset.   In my house, it was always, “Jesus is watching you.” 

I would get excited every year for the Sears Wish Book catalog.  I would have so many things I thought I wanted and would fold the corners down.  I dreamed of having so many super cool things as my friends at school.  I knew I never would.  I knew how hard my parents worked just to pay the bills.  Times were hard.  Moma would let us kids pick out one gift each year.   ONE GIFT.  Not the insane picture I have seen on Facebook.  One gift.

I remember when I was 8, I picked a tambourine.  I wanted that so bad to play in church.  When you grow up Pentecostal, a tambourine is a must.  I just googled my tambourine and cannot believe I found my exact one.

Mom worked second shift cleaning office buildings.  I remember when the Sears order came in.  My bed was in the living room.  Being poor, we couldn’t afford a big fancy house, or even a small house.  That’s just how it was.  My dad tripped over the couch and I heard a little jingle of the cymbals.  My heart was so excited because I was supposed to be asleep.  My brother, Jim,  tried to tell me it didn’t come in, but I knew better.   I could barely contain my excitement till Christmas Eve.

Going back to school after Christmas break was hard.  All the kids were talking about all the presents they received.  I would just smile.  Deep down I always knew my parents did their best.  I never felt resentment for the things I didn’t have.  I always appreciated what I had.   I used that tambourine proudly for many years in church, always knowing that was my ONE GIFT I received years prior at Christmas.

Being good at Christmas just came as an expectation for year round behavior, and not the scary elf. 

Good luck to those parents creating messes.   Just be cautious if a messy plan backfires.  Kids can outsmart you and will blame messes on the elf.  How can you get onto them when you ‘secretly’ create messes  yourself and blame it on the elf?  Just sayin’

Peace out, Trout.

Even Santa agrees…