I don't think I will ever become tired of Elf on a Shelf

[Jaebius]

Didn't the jolly round ole version of Santa (not the original St. Nicolas or Father Christmas) that we recognize in North America get invented (or re-designed) by Coca Cola?

Cke used Santa - but Santa was around before Cke ever was. Elf on th Shlf - however - was specifically designed for the sole purpose of profit.

 

[Mendalla]

I don't much like elf on a shelf. He's creepy. This is the first year I've heard of him. It's a bit sick for a holiday supposed to be about love and joy and peace and goodwill, IMO. Something suited more for grown up Halloween not kid's Christmas.

Santa may be a Coca Cola vision but he's a nice old grandpa figure rather than a twisted imp.

Oddly enough, the lawyer handling Dad's estate looks rather like the classical Santa. Big white beard, long white hair, bit of a belly on him. Kind of an interesting guy to be meeting a week and a half before Christmas.

 

[Mendalla]

Cke used Santa - but Santa was around before Cke ever was.

Yeah, while Coke certainly tweaked Santa to suit their marketing and shaped the current image, the modern Santa goes back at least to Clement Moore's A Visit From St. Nicholas/The Night Before Christmas (first published in 1823, well before Coke came along in 1886).

 

[revsdd]

We have an elf. We have fun with it. For goodness sake people - it's a fake elf that you move every morning and your kid tries to find it. Some people take things way too seriously.

 

[Jaebius]

We have an elf. We have fun with it. For goodness sake people - it's a fake elf that you move every morning and your kid tries to find it. Some people take things way too seriously.

Rocks are free and can be hidden for kids to find. Thus avoiding the Elf n th Shlf corporate cash grab.

 

[revsdd]

Rocks are free and can be hidden for kids to find. Thus avoiding the Elf n th Shlf corporate cash grab.

So it's a cash grab. Don't wanna buy one, don't buy it. Let those who want one partake.

 

[Jaebius]

So it's a cash grab. Don't wanna buy one, don't buy it. Let those who want one partake.

By all means - go ahead - it's your cash that they've grabbed.

 

[ChemGal]

We have an elf. We have fun with it. For goodness sake people - it's a fake elf that you move every morning and your kid tries to find it. Some people take things way too seriously.

Are you creative with it, or is it just a case of put it somewhere quickly?

 

[revsdd]

Are you creative with it, or is it just a case of put it somewhere quickly?

We were never especially creative. However, since my daughter became a non-believer (in Santa and elves; not in God of course) she's taken it upon herself to hide the elf, and she's a lot more creative than her mom and I were.

 

[revsdd]

By all means - go ahead - it's your cash that they've grabbed.

Let me rephrase what I said, then:

Let those who want one partake and have fun, without laying guilt on them or lecturing them about how it's a cash grab. How's that. Clearer?

 

[Jaebius]

Let me rephrase what I said, then:

Let those who want one partake and have fun, without laying guilt on them or lecturing them about how it's a cash grab. How's that. Clearer?

You've made your request quite clear - thank you.

 

[ChemGal]

I think I really enjoy hearing about this, as I have noticed that some young families don't have as many traditions as what seemed to be common in older generations. It's nice to make new ones, and having some shared ones with people outside your family is nice. Even when I'm not partaking, I enjoy hearing about them.

 

[Beloved]

For those that choose to make Elf on The Shelf a part of their tradition . . . go for it, and enjoy.

For myself - not something I want to include in my Christmas traditions.

 

[crazyheart]

 

[Kimmio Laughterlove]

Yeah, while Coke certainly tweaked Santa to suit their marketing and shaped the current image, the modern Santa goes back at least to Clement Moore's A Visit From St. Nicholas/The Night Before Christmas (first published in 1823, well before Coke came along in 1886).

When was Santa Claus/ St. Nicholas, just nicknamed (hey! pardon the pun) "Santa"? Was that Coca Cola's doing?

 

[Kimmio Laughterlove]

The image is similar but not quite. Yes, Coke tweaked it.
http://www.alephbet.com/pages/books...ht-before-christmas-or-a-visit-of-st-nicholas

https://designingnostalgia.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/coca-cola/

 

[Kimmio Laughterlove]

Here we go:

http://www.the-north-pole.com/history/

 

[Tabitha]

o Chemgal-I wish I knew how much you like Elf -before secret santa

 

[Mrs.Anteater]

There is no elf an the shelf tradition in Germany- I don't like the idea of spying big brother-like to control your kids behaviour. But- looking at all the pics here, I really like the creativity of it. I think, kids that know there is no such thig as a control Santa or a "God sees everything"- would have fun getting creative with it. Teens might like the "naughty elf" type pics.
I would not use any "God/Jesus/ Santa/Elf - sees everything you do" as part of my parenting.

 

[Pinga]

One of your friends started a gingerbread man item one year.
Basically, they bake up their gingerbread cookies, but, in the morning, one is missing, and there is a note...with a clue as to where he is....so every day there is a hunt for the gingerbread man.
It was so cute the first year ...they are younger than us, and we would smile at the storiies.
By year 7, they were "why did we start this!, which was also funny.

I love different family traditions, and think it is creative way to have some fun.