Every so often at Christmas time, a new craze appears on the scene. It's usually something I declare will never catch on and will fade away before you can say ‘figgy pudding’. More often than not, I am wrong about such things. Never more so than in the case of everyone’s new best friends (and foes), the ‘Elves on Shelves’.
Many years ago, a friend of mine who was living in America informed me about these mischievous little creatures. We laughed our socks off at the thought of millions of children being made to toe the line by nothing more than spindly and sinister looking elves.
Never mind that neither of us hesitates to play the ‘naughty list’ card, or claim the burglar alarm is in fact Santa watching to see if our children are deserving of gifts...never mind that. Here was an idea sounding more like a government military programme than a bit of harmless Christmas fun and would surely never catch on across the pond in the UK...would it?
Children's umbrella - the ideal Christmas gift!
Despite my misgivings, I marvelled at the ingenuity of it all and secretly daydreamed of a future where stuffed elves held all the cards and I could simply sit down with my cuppa to declare, “Well, if you don’t fancy doing your homework, that’s fine by me but I think the elf might be a bit cross…”
My friend, meanwhile, was supplying regular moaning monologues about how the pesky blighters - which must be moved each night to ‘watch’ the children - were complicating her Christmas.
She should think herself lucky, in the past few years, since the stripey legged creatures arrived on our shores, elf related tales on the school playground have been rife. I’ve heard it all. How they love messing up the children's bedrooms and kitchen, unravelling toilet rolls and putting toothpaste round the sink. This didn’t encourage me to invite them into my home. However, when I discovered that they also hide ipads if children are naughty and then eat ALL the biscuits, I swiftly changed my mind.
Move over nanny McPhee. There's a new, much more ‘Elf-ective’ disciplinarian on the block!
Child's Shiny Star Necklace
Take a look at our gorgeous children's gifts for those perfect stocking fillers!