I need to be upfront - I am not a big fan of Elf on the Shelf. So if your holiday season begins when your family Elf arrives, you might want to stop reading. I have a strong opinion and I understand that many families love and cherish their Elf. But it has been on my mind lately, and I wanted to share my reflection on the Elf subject.
First of all, I have a slightly biased background. I did not grow up believing in Santa. My parents decided not to play the Santa game, despite my grandmother's rebellion against my parents, signing all her gifts "love Santa." When Mark and I got married, the Santa discussion was the most drawn out and difficult issue we had to deal with. Would we teach our kids about Santa? I know that sounds crazy, but we had long drawn out *discussions* deciding our unborn children's Christmas fate. In the end, I decided to play the Santa game as long as I could maintain the primary importance of Christmas, Christ's birth.
For our family, Santa represents unconditional love...through gifts. He comes on Christmas Eve and leaves behind gifts galore with no expectation of reciprocation. We tell the kids that he is showing God's love by giving them something with no strings attached...just because he loves them.
My kids hear stories about Santa at school, the TV...everywhere. When my kids hear stories about Santa and how they need to be "good", I quickly speak up.
There is no naughty or nice list. This is a fictitious story that desperate parents and commercialism have jumped upon. Frankly, it ruins the beauty of Santa's gifts. His gifts are unconditional. My children don't have be good or nice to receive anything from me at Christmas. And quite honestly, they would never receive anything if it was based on their behavior. And neither would I.
And thus my dislike of the Elf. He watches you. He makes sure you are being 'good.' He appears in different places around the house...which I imagine is the fun part for parents. He tells Santa how you are doing...and helps determine whether you have been naughty or nice.
But the Elf misses the point of Christmas. Jesus Christ is an unconditional gift. You don't have to be good. God does see us and his gift of love does not change based on what he sees. Ever. (Phew!) Santa should be a chance for us to proclaim the gospel to our children...the best love story ever. Unending love and grace - with no strings attached. The greatest gift of all. And it doesn't matter how badly I mess up, I still get the amazing gift of grace.
That is what I want my children to grasp and relish during the Christmas season. Elf on the Shelf might be fun, but it negates the beautiful message that Santa can show my kids. He brings gifts that have no rhyme or reason or need to be reciprocated...gifts that are there to show them the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.
First of all, I have a slightly biased background. I did not grow up believing in Santa. My parents decided not to play the Santa game, despite my grandmother's rebellion against my parents, signing all her gifts "love Santa." When Mark and I got married, the Santa discussion was the most drawn out and difficult issue we had to deal with. Would we teach our kids about Santa? I know that sounds crazy, but we had long drawn out *discussions* deciding our unborn children's Christmas fate. In the end, I decided to play the Santa game as long as I could maintain the primary importance of Christmas, Christ's birth.
For our family, Santa represents unconditional love...through gifts. He comes on Christmas Eve and leaves behind gifts galore with no expectation of reciprocation. We tell the kids that he is showing God's love by giving them something with no strings attached...just because he loves them.
My kids hear stories about Santa at school, the TV...everywhere. When my kids hear stories about Santa and how they need to be "good", I quickly speak up.
There is no naughty or nice list. This is a fictitious story that desperate parents and commercialism have jumped upon. Frankly, it ruins the beauty of Santa's gifts. His gifts are unconditional. My children don't have be good or nice to receive anything from me at Christmas. And quite honestly, they would never receive anything if it was based on their behavior. And neither would I.
And thus my dislike of the Elf. He watches you. He makes sure you are being 'good.' He appears in different places around the house...which I imagine is the fun part for parents. He tells Santa how you are doing...and helps determine whether you have been naughty or nice.
But the Elf misses the point of Christmas. Jesus Christ is an unconditional gift. You don't have to be good. God does see us and his gift of love does not change based on what he sees. Ever. (Phew!) Santa should be a chance for us to proclaim the gospel to our children...the best love story ever. Unending love and grace - with no strings attached. The greatest gift of all. And it doesn't matter how badly I mess up, I still get the amazing gift of grace.
That is what I want my children to grasp and relish during the Christmas season. Elf on the Shelf might be fun, but it negates the beautiful message that Santa can show my kids. He brings gifts that have no rhyme or reason or need to be reciprocated...gifts that are there to show them the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.
This is a great post and I really appreciate your point of view. I think maybe you remember that Grant and I had similar discussions about Santa. We do have an Elf on the Shelf but we've never, ever said anything like, "The elf is watching you, you better behave or he'll tell Santa you're being naughty." For us it's just a fun tradition of the kids looking for the elf in a different place every morning. Last year I did some creative things, this year...not so much. He pretty much just moves around every night. No more rappelling, snowball fights, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd I LOVE that Abby tells Caleb not to tell her too much stuff. So sweet.
I'm definitely going to give you an Elf on the Shelf for Christmas so you can use it next year;) Ha!
PS-The sleeping bags and tree skirt look great. I have an idea for a tree skirt but will probably not make it until Carolina is in kindergarten. Just keeping it real:)
I enjoy reading your blog. Thanks for sharing how you feel.
ReplyDeleteWe've landed in a similar place as you. We play the Santa game, as long as it doesn't take away from the true meaning of Christmas. Whenever our kids ask questions about Santa, my husband says "I'd rather talk about Jesus". Haha! its a family joke now and they pretty much only ask him about Jesus now, not Santa. Its amazing how polarizing Santa is for believers.
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