That Creepy Elf

It seems as if my friends/family are in 2 camps on this topic. Love or hate.

I have been accused of being an Elf scrooge by several people because I am in the hate category.

Here is the thing. I LOVE Christmas--love the decorations, the carols, the idea of giving. LOVE it.
First of all, I hate commercialization. This creepy elf (as my fellow haters call him) or as Jen from http://www.peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat.com/ calls him, the little bastard, is made up purely for people to make money off of parents who will buy their kid "the must have item" because everyone else has it. I can't stand that. We do the Santa thing in our house, but we spend a lot of time reminding my kids that Christmas is about celebrating a religious holiday, not just about getting stuff.

Secondly, my kids are crazy enough around the holidays with the decorations and change in routine. Like I need one more thing to make them insane. Friends have suggested what a great motivator the Elf is. I don't want my kids to want to be good because "the Elf is watching." I want them to be good because they are SUPPOSED to be, not because some stalker is watching them. I don't even like doing the "Santa is watching" thing--I feel like such a liar when I do that. (but that is for another post)

Third, why the heck would I want to purposely trash my house during one of the busiest months of the year! I teach music--it is concert season. And I start with a new rotation of general music students. My morning is crazy enough getting kids and myself out of the house for school and getting my regular stuff done around the house--now I have to clean up after myself because I purposely made an extra mess?

So my kids have been told that they don't need the Elf because it is just for kids who are naughty and need extra monitoring from Santa. We'll make a mess by baking cookies and wrapping presents.We'll sing carols around the piano while my daughter plays her violin. We'll travel to see Christmas lights at Hubbard Park, and visit a Festival of Trees at the Wadsworth. They'll be in Christmas pageant at our church. And they'll survive being the "only kids without an Elf on the Shelf."