When the Elf on the Shelf burst on the scene in 2005, inspired by a children's book, parents welcomed the cutesy toy with open arms. Since then, the Elf has won multiple awards. It has even appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. You can safely say that the Elf on the Shelf has earned its place as a pop culture icon and standard Christmas tradition.
But there's something about popularity… What did the wise man once say? Oh, yes: Haters gonna hate. Maybe it's the fact that kids have gone gaga over this toy, or maybe it's the fact that parents feel pressured to buy one more product at Christmas, but the Elf has a growing community of haters.
I call these hipster parents the anti-Elf groupies. Instead of taking a middle-of-the-road stance where perhaps parents choose not to spend $30 on a new Christmas toy for their kid (that you can use year after year, I would like to add), they prefer to publicly rage about how the Elf on the Shelf rubs them the wrong way.
Anti-Elf groupie arguments include criticisms of the Elf's creepiness, complaints about what a chore it is to adopt one more holiday tradition and slams against "overachieving mommies" who go all out with the Elf and make regular mommies feel bad.
If you feel like a bad mother for not buying into the Elf on the Shelf, that's on you. No one is twisting anyone's arm to buy the Elf or its many accessories at Wal-Mart. If you really don't want to add on a new Christmas tradition because your Grinch-ly heart can't take it (I kid, I kid), you are the parent and you have the power to say no.
But don't ruin it for the rest of us. I haven't purchased the Elf yet because my kids are barely learning to talk, but I can't tell you how much I look forward to going nuts at Christmas. If they are into the Elf in a few years, then I will be too. It's your choice to be an anti-Elf hipster, but keep the bah humbug to yourself.
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