You may be wondering how theElf on the Shelf rose to global domination. Nowadays,it has its own Netflix shows and numerous merchandise offshoots,including retro elf (think 80s barbie) and elf pets. It started as a children’s book in the US in 2005. The story was based on one family’s tradition. The elf was said to be sent by Santa to the family home each day but,late each night,it would return to the Arctic Circle to report back on whether the kids had been naughty or nice. Each morning,the children would wake to find the elf had returned,although – critically – to a different spot in the house.
Also,and this is very important,the Elf on the Shelf must remain untouched by human hands so as not to quash his “magic”.
So,when we first got an elf a few years ago,all I had to do was move the elf after the kids had gone to bed. This new routine was at times forgotten,leading to disgruntled children in the morning and their probing questions about why the elf hadn’t moved. Wasn’t he supposed to move?
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I set a nightly reminder on my phone and,thereafter,all went smoothly.
The bar has now been raised and I blame social media. This year,as soon as our Elf on the Shelf appeared on December 1,as has become our ritual,my kids began talking about their hopes for him being hilarious this year,unlike last year. I didn’t really know what they were talking about,but it didn’t take long for my Instagram feeds to be filled with parents creating hilarious scenes with their elves.
These scenes usually involve multiple elves,a vivid imagination and/or an Instagram account that follows supermum,fundad or similar. To create elf scenes requires planning and organisation and some daily forethought alongside the usual long seasonal task list. Hilarious elf scenes mostly require props and allocated setting-up time and might include elf/s helicoptering in through a window,pooping out chocolate drops onto cookies,getting stuck in containers,having baths,spa treatments and even shaving people’s heads.