‘I regret starting Elf on the Shelf with my kids – it’s exhausting and I always forget’

A mum has warned other parents against starting Elf on the Shelf traditions as she said it’s too tiring and ‘you will spend hours of your life thinking of things for the elf to do’

Elf on the Shelf is a fun December game that many parents use to entertain their children as they look forward to Christmas Day. For those that don’t know, the aim of the game is that each little elf needs to be posed in a different cheeky position every morning to mimic an activity that he’s been up to overnight. As your little one tucks into their advent calendar treat, they can hunt down Elf on the Shelf too.

Even if you’re the most creative parent going, it can be really tough to think of a new idea for each day between December 1 and 25, especially if they’ve been doing it for multiple years now. It can put so much pressure on mums and dads that one mum took to Reddit with a ‘pro tip’ for other parents – telling them to avoid the tradition altogether.

They wrote: “It is so much work. You have to dig the thing out of the attic December 1. You will inevitably forget to get it out, where you put it, and to move it on the daily.

“You will spend hours of your life thinking of things for the elf to do, disguising your handwriting for little notes, setting up scenes, buying treats or supplies, helping search for it…every. single. day.

“All through the busy holiday season. And you can’t do any of this until your little ones are in bed, which is likely wayyy past the point of you being exhausted.”

Some other parents shared the ways that they got out of doing Elf and the Shelf with their children.

One wrote: “My daughter wanted one, but I told her Santa knew our cats would eat the elf”, and another relieved parent responded: “Omg I’m stealing this if my kid ever asks. I’ve been dreading the day the elf comes up. We have three huskies and he already knows he can’t leave stuff out or it will be eaten. He will no doubt accept this. Thanks!”

Another parent explained that they would feel guilty to make their kid miss out, commenting: “I’ve been wanting to avoid the elf but worried about the right thing to say with elf peer pressure if all their friends have an elf.”

Someone else said: “They just started it at daycare. I’m working on my ‘elf helps your teachers manage the classroom, but he doesn’t come home’ speech. No elves here.”

Many parents said often their elves don’t even move, with one parent saying: “Our Elf is just lazy, nothing we can do about it!”

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf tradition? Let us know in the comments.