Elf on the shelf. Am I a bad mum?

I won’t be doing it. It’s a great opportunity to talk about how different households celebrate in different ways. And big up the special things that you do as a family.

I personally would do it just because of how excited and happy it seemed to make him. But it doesn’t make you a bad parent for not.

I’m not planning on doing elf on the shelf either, I definitely would forget to do something every single night. My children aren’t old enough right anyway, but my younger sister used to go on about it years ago.

But maybe you can have an elf that does a weekly check in if you still want him to experience it and not have the added stress of doing it every day?

We were literally having this conversation today in our NCT chat… a few of us don’t do it either, I’m not making that kind of commitment 😂 I’m not sure how I’ll handle it if she brings it up though (she just started school too 😬) I might say they only get sent to the really naughty houses for observation 😂😂😂🤷🏻‍♀️🫣

I was set on doing it this year.. but I’m fat round and pregnant and due in January and now I really don’t want too😭😭

My friend did the whole Leprechaun visits your house and my kids came home so excited to see if we have a leprechaun. I told them I didn’t sign up for the leprechaun to visit our house. But I do sign up for other things, we can’t do everything. And they were okay with that answer.
You can’t do everything everyone else does. I would be out here celebrating every single holiday under the sun if I did. We do what works for us.
I do love our Elf on the Shelf and would really wish that people who don’t want to do it don’t put down families that choose to do it. My kids aren’t bad or naughty and there’s no reason to crap on others for doing something they enjoy.

We do not do the elf and will not be doing the elf. (I work in a school and more people don’t do it that what you think)

I don't really have any intentions of doing it. Granted my little girl is only 2, and I may feel differently once peer pressure starts, but I feel getting everything sorted for Christmas, doing all the Christmas activities with them and everything else that's a massive stress at Christmas, I just can't be bothered. If it was an every now and again thing maybe, but coming up with a new idea everyday and having to sort it out each day is too much added stress. Especially given work is also extremely hectic around Christmas

I have an 11 and 3.5 year old and have never ever done it.

I don’t know when or why the elf thing became big. But it’s not for me and won’t be something we do when our kids get older.

I have never even heard of it 😀 my toddler is 3 and when I explained about Santa and how he will come into our house while we sleep, he thought it was really scary for a stranger to come into our house and told me he does not want any presents 😀

Don’t put pressure on yourself but If you wanted to do elf on the shelf you could get a teddy version as it’s cheaper than the official box and stick with the basic version of how it works, you don’t have to do all these elaborate set ups, just do the simple stuff, move him around at night and have your son look for him each morning, the elf doesn’t need to be “getting into mischief”

Both my sisters do it for their kiddos and I don’t I’m not putting In the extra work and stressing over a elf

I legit got my elf from the works for £3 im not buying any fancy stuff and just going to do stupid things ive saw in fb i might even miss a few days out and say hes busy helping santa😂 my sons only 4 and my first year doing it

I'm not doing elf on the shelf. Me and my partner never had it as kids and personally I think it's a bit of a weird thing. Each to their own! Don't feel pressured into it x

Our daughter is 4 and we have no intention of doing the elf

Our elf will be busy working at Santa's workshop in the run up to Christmas 😂 I don't have time for that nonsense, and surely Father Christmas and the elves need all the help they can get at Christmas time!
I've seen an idea where they have a little dolls house where the elf comes to sleep, leaves their advent calendar treat in the morning before going back to work during the day.

There are alternatives, I remember as a kid my parents had a laser pointer (like the ones you use for a cat to chase) that they would periodically point on/ around the Christmas tree/ fire place in December. It was known as the little red fairy, as young children this was magical and almost zero effort for my parents.

My son is 4 as well and this is the first year we started elf on the shelf. He seems to love it and gets very excited every morning when he finds the elf has moved his location. I guess it depends on the kid. If they’re going to enjoy it, why not? What’s the purpose of not doing it?