Who among you is a Shelfer? For those who don’t know, Elf on the Shelf is a holiday tradition that originated from a kids’ book in 2005 by the same name. The idea is that the elves are ‘scout elves’ who stage a month-long home invasion between Thanksgiving and Christmas, watching and reporting back to Santa which list you belong on. They accomplish this by moving about the room, appearing on a different shelf every morning. But somewhere along the way, the Elf tradition evolved into a series of pranks in which the Elves wreak havoc on your belongings and terrorize the dog.
Jimmy Kimmel Shelfs and apparently, it helps keep his children in line. During his monologue the other night, Jimmy explained that his four-year-old daughter, Jane, believes in their Elf enough that’s she’s trying to work his endorsement by making offerings to her little brother, Billy.
Jimmy Kimmel has seen the magic of the Elf on the Shelf firsthand when it comes to making sure his own children share their toys during the Christmas season because they know the Elf is watching.
He also knows that making sure the Elf is in a new spot every day can be a chore, so the late-night host has a few hilarious suggestions on how to ease that burden.
“There needs to be a service that comes to your house and moves the Elf around for you,” he said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday night.
Since that business doesn’t actually exist, Kimmel had one other idea that could kill two birds with one stone – cleaning the house and moving the Elf.
“Tonight I’m just gonna duct tape the Elf to a Roomba and let it move around itself,” he said.Kimmel watched recently as his daughter, Jane, 4, shared a toy with his son, Billy, 1, all thanks to the Elf’s watchful eye.
“She gives it to him like, ‘Billy, I know this is mine, but I want you to play with it,’ and then I swear to God she did this – she turned and winked at the Elf,” he said.
Somebody needs to capitalize on a “Shelf Your Elf” service. I could see rich housewives in Manhattan bragging about their personal Shelfer over lunch. I’m sure the Roomba thing has been done before. I love Jane’s wink to the elf. This is where I would be with one of these interlopers in my house, I’d save all my good behavior for when I was standing in front of them. I am not a Shelfer (nor do I have any idea if that’s what they call themselves)/ I think this a fun tradition and if I had the energy, I’d do it. But since I get up between four and five in the morning, anything that requires me to stay awake past the kids is off the table. I stay away from this because I don’t want to have to think up new ideas. If you need some inspiration, check out some of these ideas people have pulled off. They are un-b-ELF-able! (See that – my elf just packed up and went back home).
Photo credit: Getty Images and WENN Photos
I was just having this conversation yesterday with coworkers. Ain’t nobody got time for that.! Now on top of everything else you want me to create little messes and scenarios to a) make my kid smile, but b) make more work for me to have to clean??? Uh-uh Homey don’t play that!!!
I flipping hate Elf on the Shelf. And being the Scrooge that I am, did not get my daughter one. It says it in the song “he knows when you’ve been bad or good” so he doesn’t need Elf scouts! Ugh! BUT…last year she left a note for Santa asking for one, so I had to give in. The Elf showed up this year. But I refuse to have the Elf do naughty things. The whole point of the Elf is to make sure the kid is being good, so what sense does it make that the Elf is bad?!? My daughter is 8, so I figure I only have a couple of years left.
It was cute seeing how excited she was when “Mary Claire” showed up this year…I have to admit.
Awwwwww! My favorite childhood memories are elf hunting with my dad on Christmas Eve. It’s the only time he played make believe with us, he’s a very serious man. The last year we did the hunt, my mom slipped outside and pulled a paper elf on a string when we shone the flashlight on it. It was magical and I recreated it with my stepdaughters elf on a shelf at our house the last year I did the elf hunt with her and she flipped out. I’m going to continue with my baby, but we’ll just move him around, no pranks, until Christmas Eves elf hunt, where I plan on doing one prank for the discovery of him. Think of it like me, this may be your child’s favorite memory with you where you played pretend with him/her, as it was with my dad!
Damn that’s really sweet. Well my daughter is only 3, I will think about it for next year, or maybe wait until she asks, when some kid at school asks her if she has an elf at home.
I’ve heard some parents claim the elf “sees everything” and “reports to santa”, so some kids are creeped out. Frankly I’m glad I never heard of it, we never did it & it’s just MORE work on top of it all. i was a crazy elf for halloween, that amused.
Elf on the Shelf is creepy af.
Thank goodness somebody else thinks so! That bloody thing is as creepy as a clown. It’s caught on a bit here in Australia. My daughter lives with me with her partner. We have his children here every fortnight, and they were rabbiting on about it last week, urging me to look on the shelf where we keep the tin of dog biscuits. I just said, “Oh, lovely. Yet another marketing ploy you’ve been allowed to succumb to… There’s enough to do already, and enough of your stuff cluttering up my home without more of this ridiculous merchandise, apart from which, that thing is creepy as.” Yes,I’m a grinch, and a proud grinch at that.
“Enough of your stuff cluttering up my home” ??? Elf or don’t elf, I really don’t care, but I hope you’re being sarcastic, and don’t actually make your daughter’s step-children feel that unwelcome in what should be their home, too. Yikes.
Maybe I’m being over-sensitive, but as a step-child, who didn’t live full-time with either of my parents, and had half-siblings on both sides that did, feeling unwanted plus being in a home that doesn’t feel like yours, is the worst. Never feeling like you belong, or always being on edge and like you’re a guest when you’re with your own parent, is one of the hardest, most hurtful parts of being a child in a shared custody situation. It’s as if you don’t fit in your parent’s life anymore when your habits, desires and likes are declared bad, stupid or ridiculous. Continuing traditions from home to home is actually a really easy way to make kids feel loved and secure.
“Enough of your stuff cluttering my house”
Are you for real? Thats not being a Grinch, thats being and evil step mother. You are treating your step kids like an inconvenient mess. How much would it really cost you to make a little effort so they are comfortable from home to home. I feel for those children who you treat like an every other weekend inconvenience cluttering your home. I side eye your partner for not creating a loving inviting situation for them and you need to think a little further than your nose from your face about what you say to them. Dont be in a relationship with people who have their own children if you aren’t prepared to love them as you love your own.
This isn’t ‘aww im a grumpy ole’ grinch. How cute.’ This is cruelty.
Way to make your daughter and her step kids feel wanted and valued, AnnaKist. I hope your post was exaggerated and an attempt to be funny. It just made me sad. I don’t care whether or not you or anyone else partakes in Elf on a Shelf. But being so dismissive of other people and making your daughter’s step kids feel so unwelcome is just cruel.
I am really glad I checked back to see that it wasn’t just me, because all the “way to goes” on a post I also felt described downright cruelty, at least in the language as described, which I realize might have been exaggerated for effect (but I’m not sure why such would be funny), was depressing me.
AnnaKist wins everything.
For real I do as well. I don’t do any of the weird emotional manipulations people do to kids on holidays.
AGREED. I have always been completely weirded out by it!
It is like having Chucky the doll’s best friend from high school hanging around the house. The eyes that seem to follow you and the weird expression on its face. If this was a horror movie it would spray rancid eggnog in your eyes, then stab you with a candy cane. Creepy
My daughter came home the other night and said, where’s OUR elf on the shelf? (Thank you, daughter’s friends.) I do not plan to get one. What can I tell her?
tell her that they only dispatch elves to the really naughty kid’s houses and is she saying she needs one?
LMAO, that’s perfect. I’m glad my kids never cared about it. Thank goodness!
There’s a severe elf shortage. My nieces’ elf will be reassigned to a new family next year (travel arrangements made by the garbage man) because now that they’re 5 and 8, they know how to behave.
I even managed to make the story better by explaining that my friend’s new baby had to get a baby elf because there aren’t enough grown up elves to go around. My friend actually got the kid a baby elf because the smaller elf is less money, but we’re trying to get nieces on board with no more of this nonsense.
I hate this elf thing. Like I need more to do over the holidays. It’s absurd. Why do we have to make an entire month one giant daily “magical surprise”? Why isn’t Christmas enough? Ugh.
Anyway, I told my kids the truth about the elf when they asked for one. It’s not real and parents use it to make their kids behave.
That’s perfect, too. I agree that the spirit of the actual day often gets lost in so. much. commercialism. It’s gross. My own childhood around Christmas was so much simpler. Yet no less magical, I’m guessing.
@esmom-I agree, I remember loving Christmas and my parents for sure didn’t do all this crap we are expected to do now. I think one reason is all the Christmas shows you only watched once because they were only on tv once and you had to watch it then. Now you can just go to Netflix, Amazon, or just get a dvd and watch it over and over. My mom also got my kids and elf a few years ago and we tried but we sucked at it and gave up and now every year she bugs me about it and tries to make me feel guilty about not doing it.
Tell her you don’t allow tattle-tales in your house.
I’m glad this Elf crap wasn’t popular when I was a kid, nor when my kid was small. Santa is creepy enough with his “he can see you when you’re sleeping” crap, having one of his snitches spying on you is even worse.
My son tried that once with my granddaughter didn’t go over well. She said it scared her so she put it in the cat’s litter box. The cat was not impressed
LOL That’s awesome.
We have enough things spying and watching us these days, whether we like it or not. I don’t need to further subject my kid to it.
I’m no fun. I know.
That’s too funny. My daughter has always been a smart cookie. She seems to believe in Santa, the tooth fairy, etc…but at the same time, I think she’s always kind of questioned it, mostly to herself. When she was three, I used that old line, “Santa is watching, maybe you should listen to mom and dad”. She immediately looked horrified, and asked if he watched her when she went to the bathroom. She told me that Santa in the mall is not really Santa, and she knows reindeer can’t fly. She’s a little Skeptic lol
Kitty, your daughter sounds adorable!
We’ve just started this year and I’m already failing, 5 days in. I keep forgetting and then I’m laying in bed, almost asleep when I remember I have to move the elf. I don’t even know where to put it half the time. A tradition I’m going to regret!
1. Anything that requires me to stay awake past the kids is off the table.
2. I stay away from this because I don’t want to have to think up new ideas.
Yes to both. We are not Shelfers (lol). I have a 4 year old who does believe in Elves in general but we don’t have one that stays at the house. I have no interest. It feels like a Pinterest mommy competition thing. No offense to anyone who likes that sort of thing. Busy Phillips does a great one.
No. I’m so glad I missed all this extraness with my kids. It was getting bad when they were little but because we homeschooled we were spared much of it.
I’ve had friends tell me that they upset their kids when they accidentally forgot to do it one night. Oops!! I probably would not do it if I had kids for that reason, but alas, no kids. We did not have this when I was growing up, but I used to get an advent calendar from the grocery store and that was fun! (And there are super fun ones available now, like lego and booze and books.) I also used to love to read by the tree, using just the tree lights and whatever other christmas lights were on. I love lots of lights!
I have 3 LEGO advent calendars. I adore them. I adore advent calendars in general, even the ones that are just pictures because some are so beautiful. It’s an inexpensive yet lovely way to build daily excitement for the holiday.
I almost bought one of the lego ones this year but then I stopped because I am trying to rein in frivolous spending and also buying stuff that I don’t really need, and like I said, I have no kids, and so it felt very frivolous. Instead, I bought three lego guys from previous years’ advent calendars, and while they were more than I should have spent, they are teeny tiny and I am happy with my pared down purchase!
Oh heck no – I never did this and have zero regrets. It’s more work for me during an already stressful time and it’s creepy. If you’ve got that much extra time on your hands, go build a manger on your lawn.
Early introduction to fascism and being constantly watched by big brother. Preparing children for a lifetime of it. No privacy, constant surveillance. It’s horrifying.
AMEN, Ariel!
It’s really not as big a deal as people make it out to be. We have one and it’s just a fun little thing. We don’t use it to “watch” it’s just a friend from the North Pole who wants to see how we get ready for Christmas. I don’t do complicated scenarios. I take 30 seconds and hide him and the kids run downstairs excitedly each morning to find him and that’s it. The pressure or need to have elaborate set ups is self inflicted by parents. In our house it’s a new fun tradition. The elf does sometimes leave a short note.
I went into it below, but, yeah, same.
I was once a never-Elfer… then I had kids. It’s fun to create traditions with them. We don’t read the book or tell them the elf is “watching” them, they just enjoy finding the elf every morning.
Am I the only one who thinks it’s sweet for parents who want to do it? My mom did all sorts of inventive holiday things when I was young (age 3-10). Easter bunny trails with powdered sugar, she made us each advent calendars, sewed our Halloween costumes. Oh and she was a full time working single mom.
She just wanted those years to be special and I’m so grateful for her care. I have a 2 year old and I’m making these seasons special for her too.
I think the issue is the pressure that some people feel and the competition it seems to provoke. I think any traditions you can create with your family are indeed sweet, especially when they come from a place of genuine love and nostalgia. I can’t imagine anyone knocking that.
Enjoy your time with your little one, those are magical years and they go by too fast (as I’m sure you’ve heard!).
Ugh, I’m a Shelfer for my youngest. I wasn’t until all his friends got one and he asked where his was. Double ugh.
I’m always forgetting to move him, thankfully my husband finally cottoned on to it and moves him sometimes. Our just moves spots – unlike one mom who has a pair and goes to town just about every night.
I will admit to occasionally uh-oh’ing him and saying the elf saw/heard that. I know, I’m terrible.
My colleague’s elf ended up travelling to work in her handbag yesterday. The scamp knocked over our Christmas tree and wouldn’t budge off my keyboard.
We took photos for the kids…they were delighted!
It is pretty huge here the past couple of years (Ireland) although I’m not sure I’d personally have the energy or creativity for it!
So, I’m a mom and I both think the entire conceit, when you actually stop and think about it, is creepy as hell AND I’m already tired all the damn time so definitely do not want to be missing precious sleep to set up, and then later have to clean up, elaborate “impish” mischief that those little scamps get up to each night. Aww, hell no.
That having been said. We have an Elf on the Shelf, and my kids gleefully look for it each morning in a way that you’d have to be a total Grinch not to find really sweet and heartwarming. I’ve made a few slightly funny scenarios—mostly just hanging him from weird places—though never a huge set-up. I also haven’t made a big deal about him “watching” them, or reporting to Santa. Our elf just takes wish lists to the North Pole and brings back notes that say naughty or nice (cute little certificates I got on Amazon) and we’ve stressed repeatedly that their elf is 100% on their side and WANTS to put them on the nice list, not the other way around. Most of what they know/think about the elf they got from that Christmas special they showed a few years back, so they are super paranoid about anyone touching them (if he falls down, we have to use tongs or oven mitts to preserve his magic), but not at all about him “watching” them.
Even my oldest, 11, still enjoys the process, which sort of surprises me, since every year I think this is the one he’ll be rolling his eyes at it but, so far, no. It’s just a scavenger hunt for him now.
In our house at least, it’s a cute little tradition that I think is basically harmless. I’m not Instagramming the elf’s antics (or anything else), or using him as a threat. He’s just another little bit of holiday countdown happiness that my kids enjoy, like their advent calendars which really have nothing at all do with religious Advent and everything to do with counting down in anticipation of the approaching big day. Also, now I have a reminder set on my phone to make sure he moves each night.
I’m not critical of anyone who doesn’t want to do this, or whatever other popular Christmas traditions with their kids, but I also don’t really get the criticism leveled at those that do. Snark for going over the top? Sure. I’ve done it myself. But there’s so little magic in the world, I find it really hard to side eye or complain about the things, particularly lighthearted tableaus, parents do to try make the holidays, or any time, feel extra special and add a little wonder to their kids’ daily lives.
If your oldest is 11, how old is your youngest? I went along with the whole Santa thing for years, just to keep up the appearances for my younger siblings. When I was 11, I had a sister who was only 5. I couldn’t bring myself to ruin it for her, so I played along. Yours is likely doing the same thing. It’s sweet of him.
Yes, I’m sure that’s what it is. His sister just turned 4 and his brother is 7, and both still believe wholeheartedly. My oldest actually discovered the Santa stuff via domino effect when he found his first lost baby tooth in the little tooth-shaped necklace he got when he lost it during Kindergarten tucked away in my keepsake box. It was an, ‘If the Tooth Fairy didn’t take it, she isn’t real,’ connect the dots.
Then, a few months later, he told me he was gonna go ahead and keep believing in Santa anyway, because maybe it was the not believing that made him not come, and I said that was fine, too.
We actually considered not doing Santa at all, due to the lying, but a friend of mine said to me, ‘But you grew up with Santa and you loved it, right? You have such great memories and you were sad for, what, maybe a day when you found out it was a game? How does that compare to all the hours of happiness and delight having Santa in your life brought?’ And you, know, she was right, and I’ve never regretted it. Like I said, there is so little magic and pure joy in our often ugly world. For me it was just … Let kids have this thing.
And, with my oldest, when he realized, we told him that now he gets to be part of the Santa magic; To carry on the joy and excitement of the tradition. I just find it hard to see how learning about being kind and creating surprises that delight others is a bad thing.
Oh and, if you don’t do Santa with your kids, that’s cool, but please don’t be the sanctimonious jerk, or let your kids be, that go around spoiling it for everyone else. I would never allow my kids to shout at someone else that their religious beliefs weren’t real, no matter what we’ve taught them in our home, because it’s rude, disrespectful and plain old mean, and those aren’t the sort of people I want them to be. I often find it’s the exact folks are most insistent about you respecting THEIR beliefs that are total a-holes about making fun of, or attempting to knock down, yours. /rant
Oh and, we also said (to our oldest when we had that talk) that Santa might not be literally real, but the joy he brings kids, and their parents, too in sharing it, absolutely is. Which I do believe, and that’s why it makes me extra grumpy when people try to poop on that. Like, no one is making YOU do anything, why do you have to crap on totally harmless things that bring other people happiness?
I’m with S on this Shelving the Elf controversy, lol.
We have had one forever, it was a gift from Grandma. My sons are both older, 11 and 20. Elder son returns from college on Friday you guys for Christmas break!!!! Younger son is doing great first year middle school!!! Of course you all know Nicegirl here is keeping up with all of our old family holiday traditions- because it’s fun, heartwarming, yearned for, etc.
When the elf arrived years ago, per the instructions in the book, the boys named our elf- Alphonse Alphonso. No idea how they came up with it but it’s his name. Hilarious 😂
We usually moved the elf in the morning before the kids got up and it’s still the habit. It’s like a fun hunt to find where he’s hiding every morning. Ours shows up the day after Thanksgiving.
A few years back Alphonse got a friend. My sons love Legend of Zelda and I found a tiny stuffed Linc character. We call him “Linc on the Brink” He helped keep my high school aged son in line, lol. (That’s a joke). I put the elf’s arms over Linc’s neck and stick them up together, we say they’ best friends.
I’d say, whenever I forgot to move Alphonse and Linc,”oh man WHAT did you guys do yesterday that Linc and Alphonse are covering for you, they stayed in one spot” which obviously means they didn’t make the trip to the North Pole to give their report to Santa, duh.
I also have a massive pottery barn advent calendar on the wall and the boys love it and look forward to it every year. You know I did not buy that expensive thing, another gift from Grandma and it’s so pretty I love it but it is an expense to fill every year, it has 25 pockets.
I guess because it’s so scary now -that tradition makes me feel happier.
Speaking of traditions, I love my tradition of checking celebitchy.com for the haps!! 👌💁🖖🏽
It’s nice for any family that gets a kick out of it. To each family their own.
But for me, no. No way. I’m having a hard enough time bullshitting my child about Santa. We already keep Santa low key, he brings one present for each person and fills stockings.
Plus I am not here for “you must behave because of X reward”. Sorry, reminds me too much of religion (you must be a good person so you can go to heaven, never worked or clicked for me personally). Kids are sponges! They soak up all kinds of messages, and that is one that I am not interested in sending.
I’m a shelfer, or I should say my hubs is. He loves to do it for our daughter. She goes to bed early which helps! Last nite our elf ate a bag of Doritos and the night before she thanked my daughter for reading her elf book. Also I have to admit I just spent way too much money on amazon last night on elf accessories. I was anti-elf for a long time, but it wakes my daughter up in the morning and she’s happy, we’re both not morning people so to see her so happy to find it? It’s worth it. Well, easy for me to say I guess since hubs takes over! I dunno. I think it’s cute. Not for everyone I get it!
Yeah that little b*stard is not allowed in my house.
It feels wrong – like a police undercover op where the guy doesn’t get the accent right.
I had friends do the elf thing, and some were truly elaborate. Ridiculously elaborate. I’ve always found it to be just another chore in December that I didn’t need or want, and funny enough, my boys never asked about it. I did, however, utilize a website that personalized a conversation with Santa. We’d stream it on the tele and watch the joy unfold. One and done!
We never did Elf on a Shelf. Way too creepy and way too time consuming.
We told our daughter that Santa talked to the animals. So Santa talked to our dog about her and her friends – at least the ones who didn’t have pets of their own. And animals always tell the truth.
No need for a month of pretending when all you need is Krampus. One day a year kept me in line all year when I was a kid.
I refuse to add the extra work into my life. However, we also don’t do the Santa thing either. My husband and I both grew up with understanding that Santa was fun but not real (maybe it’s because we grew up broke in nyc? Or maybe it’s my family’s immigrant background?). Also Christmas Eve is huge in my family with a big party and exchanging of presents so all of these elves and Santa myths just didn’t make sense culturally. We figured we always loved Christmas and none of these added things really are necessary so we won’t be making it a part of our family. We just talk about them in fun ways (similar to the cartoon programs that they watch in disney jr). My kids are 3 so this has been the first year where we can really explore all of this.
we do it with our kids. this is the third year & i secretly regret it, but the kids love it and they get so excited about it. plus, i stay at home, so i have the time to do all the creative things. it keeps them on their best behavior for the month of december, so meh.
I love it and do it every year. The kids look forward to finding the elf the next morning. We have a lot of fun with it. One time he wore my shower cap and had the tube of toothpaste in his hands. He also left a message on the bathroom mirror. The kids write messages to the elf and of course the elf has to respond.
I like to see the fun things my friends come up with, but I am not a Shelfer. I also never did Santa. And sadly my 4 year old (at the time) did tell his class that Santa isn’t real and their parents buy the presents. It wasn’t even thanksgiving yet, and it didn’t occur to me that the kids would be talking about it. So after that we practiced scenarios about what he could say if people asked him about Santa. And we also moved hundreds of miles away. Lol. It was for a job, but it did let us start over with not spoiling Santa.
Now my kids are 12 and 10. My 10 year old is currently pretending to believe at school because two of her best friends are “believers” and she doesn’t want to spoil it for them. She says there is a boy in her class who loves telling them Santa isn’t real. She’s Santa’s staunchest defender. Which I find a little odd. I asked if she’s sure her friends believe and maybe they are just trying to protect her. That earned me an eye roll. But at least there wasn’t a weird elf to witness it.
Lol wow I didn’t know there were such strong feelings about Elf on the Shelf. I feel like had that been around when I was a kid, my parents would probably have done it but it wouldn’t have been elaborate. They would have just moved the elf to different locations and let me and my sister find it in the morning. I find it to be a cute tradition and it literally takes two seconds to move a small stuffed elf from one location to the next. You don’t even have to hide it if you don’t want to (I probably wouldn’t if I had kids). I realize parents have so many things to do so if you aren’t a shelfer, that’s cool! But to go on and on about what a chore it is to move an elf from the window ledge to the chair and how you don’t have time for it… gimme a break.
We have four of the F’s!! I am too tired to come up with fun spots to put them every night!
Y’all are a bunch of grinches! It’s a cute concept and most kids love it. All you have to do is move the thing once a day, it’s not that much effort. You don’t need to do all the scenarios etc.
Let’s start with the caveat: I don’t judge you if you love Elf on a Shelf. It’s your call, and your family, and that’s cool, y’all.
But I genuinely loathe the idea of bringing one of these into my home. We have three kids under the age of 8. I work full-time, and so does my husband. I volunteer on three boards. With the limited time and energy we both have left after aftercare pickup, we can barely put a homecooked meal on the table/manage homecook for the two older kids, much less move around a goddamned deformed little Nanny State troll to terrorize our children.
Anyway, happy holidays!
We’re Italian. Our elf isn’t a rat. It’s basically a month long game of Where’s Waldo. My teens and I move him around for my six year old and come up with creative tales for the days Griffin doesn’t get moved.
It makes him so happy to get up in the morning and search for Griffin. And he’s not a morning person either so it makes getting him up and dressed for school so much easier.
Griffin comes out the day after thanksgiving and goes back after new year’s
I think it’s a really cute, creative idea. If you have it in ya, it can be really fun. And if you’re like, I got no time for that shenaniganery, that’s cool too. My boss does it for her 8 year old daughter and has a lot of fun with it. She likes to find new, weird places to shove that elf into (ie. a glass vase, a flour jar, the vacuum hose..) She takes a picture each time and we do get a chuckle out of it. She got a male & a female elf so she sets up scenarios where one is getting the other into trouble. I will admit, it’s a bit extra. But it is fun.