Elf on the Shelf: Creepy or Cute Holiday Tradition?

Photo: Is the Elf checking on your child for Santa, or plotting something ominous?

By Caitlin Brown

Many children’s holiday activities become traditions that take hold throughout the years and passed on to younger generations. One of the more recent additions to children’s holiday traditions is great fun for kids and has been growing in popularity, but has also gained more notoriety to others as possibly being one of the creepier toys to come out since “Chucky” turned the “My Buddy And Me” doll into the stuff of nightmares.

“Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition” is a book, published in 2005, that comes accompanied by a small elf figurine. Parents are brought into the fun by hiding the Elf every night, beginning right after the Thanksgiving dinner dishes are put away and ending on Christmas Day. The idea behind this Christmas activity is that the Elf, as Santa’s Little Helper, is always watching your child in order to report back to Santa on whether they are being naughty or nice.

The concept is well-intended, but like any good children’s tradition, it is shadowed by a little bit of eeriness. Like the old and original Grimm’s fairy tales, warning children about everyday dangers masked behind horrific creatures and events, the Elf on a Shelf may have, whether intended or not, just enough creepiness to scare your child into behaving. The Elf leers down, with large and unblinking eyes, hiding among other toys and stuffed animals, as suggested by one participant. Children are aware that the Elf is somewhere in the room or the house, watching (plotting?) and getting his report ready for Santa. The Elf is also designed to have an all-knowing smirk that could either be seen as suggesting holiday cheer, or seen as psychotic if you look at it in just the right way...

Patch readers: Patch wants to know — do you find the Elf on the Shelf to be creepy, or do you think it’s cute? Tell us in the comments below why you think it’s cute or creepy, and where you hide your Elf on the Shelf.