I know the “Elf on the Shelf” is a popular thing. I get it. It’s fun, it’s magical. But, I don't REALLY get it. Let's just say, it's not something we do at our house. I take that back, it's not something I WANTED to do at our house.
In the past, I've written about how I try to make the Christmas season as magical as possible, but I pass on this one. I don’t know how even bored mamas have time for that. Although, if there is such a thing as a “bored” mama, I really need you to email me about this. I digress… I have no time, no creativity, and no energy for such a task.
My 8-year-old was feeling left out of the trend I suppose. Hashtag FOMO. For those of you over the age of 12, that means “Fear Of Missing Out.” So, she took her $2 that her NC grandmother sent her and went to the Dollar Tree where she bought not one, but TWO, elves. They are not the “real” Elf on the Shelf products. This is just a cheap cotton-stuffed elf, but she still wanted an elf.
I told her if she would like to move the durn elf around for the little kids, fine, but I wasn’t going to participate. I see the elf occasionally "move around," but thankfully she hasn’t made it a big deal. It doesn’t have a name and it isn’t mischievous. It just goes from the Christmas tree limbs to the planter to the bowl in the kitchen and back again.
I tried to figure out what it is that I really don’t like about the elf. I’m sorry to write some deep blog when really this is about a $1 doll cloth that nobody even really notices. I’m sure it’s some lighthearted, funny, magical kids’ thing and here I am about to turn it into something way deeper than that. That is my awkward party trick, right there. Every time.
The elf is supposed to watch kids and report if they are being naughty or nice. He’s a secret spy for Santa. He’s mischievous, which is duplicitous in nature, first of all. He’s an elf coming to make sure kids do good things, while meanwhile only doing bad things himself. So confusing.
But more importantly, it really does go against everything I believe in. If Christmas is about Jesus (not “if,” it is) then we should be displaying attitudes that honor Him. The truth is that Jesus doesn’t give us good gifts because we are good people. In fact, that absolutely goes against the Gospel of the message of Christ. The real message is this: you are bad, you still get rewarded with good things. It's simple but powerful.
I give my kids gifts on Christmas because they are loved no matter how good or bad they are. And trust me, you should meet my kids. I have one in particular, the three-year-old, who should get coal this year, and even that would be generous. My kids are NOT perfect. They mess up. They are sassy. They hit. They fight. I see it all. Jesus sees even more than I do. And yet, He and I both can’t WAIT to give them good gifts.
Thank GOODNESS there’s no one keeping tally of my bad behavior. YIKES. Thank GOODNESS I serve a God who sees that I’m a big mess and says, “Hey, I’m here for all of it!” Not only does He not punish me, He loves me, He gives me good gifts, He calls me His child. I don’t get it. I truly don’t. But that’s the kind of love I want to display to my own kids. I’m not keeping tabs on whether or not they deserve Christmas presents. They do NOT deserve Christmas presents. Have you seen their rooms?? But I do not deserve a single gift that I have either.
So, throw out the old, “making a list and checking it twice, gonna find out whose naughty or nice.” I say, rewrite it with the words, “throw out the list and get lots of gifts you don’t deserve and maybe you’ll be even more grateful for all the blessings.” Except that doesn’t flow or rhyme at all. Granted, it needs some work. Don’t we all.
