The Elf Not on the Shelf

The elf not on the shelf. 

My daughter's generation just missed the Elf on the Shelf phenomenon, maybe I should say that the parents of my daughter's generation just dodged a bullet. From what I've read and heard this whole Elf on the Shelf thing has gotten way out of control. 

I suppose as with many things these days we have to blame it on Pinterest, and the competitive nature of parenting. I'm sure when the little Elf was first introduced the creators envisioned simply moving it to a new location each night providing a little hide and seek for their children in the morning. 

Except, with the Pinterest generation this would never be good enough. Parents would now be required to spend hours on end coming up with one unbelievably amazing adventure after another for this sprite little guy. Now I must admit, I have enjoyed some of the pictures I've seen, and am always amazed at the creativity of others, but I'm sooo glad the pressure of perfection was not so prominent when raising kids in the 90's. 

More so, I can't help but be amused as I remember my own elf experience as a child. Once when I was around four years old my father was doing the dishes after dinner one night, and he turned to me to let me know he had just seen an elf peeking in our kitchen window. Now I always took the words of Santa Claus is Coming to Town quite literally. I knew that Santa had a list that he carefully checked twice, that he knew if I was sleeping, and whether I was naughty or nice. 

Perhaps this is where my rule following nature began, but I remember being quite pleased that the Elf had checked in on me, and was on his way back to the North Pole to give Santa a good report. More than anything I can't help but think about the simplicity of the 1960's Elf Not on the Shelf!