麻豆视频

Stealth on a Shelf

By Lynne Bell

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听听听听听听听听听听听 When I first learned about the stealthy significance of the 鈥淓lf on a Shelf,鈥� I was in a Chapters store in Calgary and sure enough, the creepy little fella seemed to be the hot-ticket item that Christmas, with stores unable to keep him in stock.

听听听听听听听听听听听 The next year, 'he' became 'it', as the Elf was available to purchase as a male or female version. Then, the Elf was (finally!) manufactured with a variety of skin tones, and soon, the little creature started popping up on my Facebook page (most memorably-and hilariously-in a hot tub with Barbie).

听听听听听听听听听听听 Now that I'm acquainted with more young moms in this area, I am witnessing the effects of the Elf's antics on kids I know personally. I won't mention any names, but one smart, spunky kid I know in town woke up the entire household one night, seemingly terrified and traumatized by the sight of the Elf in the family home.

听听听听听听听听听听听 So I am inclined to dislike this little plastic spy, whose job it is is to keep kids under seasonal surveillance and report back to the big guy at the North Pole nightly, through the month of December. That is, in addition to the Elf's very presence making more work for parents, as they are inevitably pressured to come up with a slew of scenarios for the Elf to inhabit during an already busy pre-Christmas season.

听听听听听听听听听听听 However, in spite of my immature snickers at the Elf's own seasonal slips on Facebook (see: Elf, Barbie), I have slightly revised my opinion on the little guy, thanks to a high-school English teacher named Stephen Womack.

听听听听听听听听听听听 听This year, Womack, a teacher at R.F. Staples Secondary School in Westlock, Alberta, became a real-life 鈥淓lf on a Shelf鈥� for the junior high and high-school students at his school. As his elf-y alter-ego, Yukon Cornelius, Womack shows up at the school every morning, ready to surprise students and staff. Acting as 鈥渁 certified naughty and nice specialist,鈥� Womack has-so far- been found: making snow angels in a pile of flour, on a swing suspended from the school's (very high!) ceiling, atop a Christmas-wrapped car outside the school, and resplendent in a tux, escorting the school's mascot at the annual school formal听 and more...which by the way, can be viewed on the Westlock Elf's Instagram account, @whattheelfontheshelf.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Womack's portrayal of the Elf personifies the best of the season. He's giving of himself to spread some holiday cheer, as students and staff excitedly check out whereabouts of their school's Elf听 each morning. One student even said he was, 鈥淗aving the worst morning of my life, until I came to school and saw the Elf.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 And there are even attempts to land this particular Elf's antics on The Ellen Show.

听听听听听听听听听听听 With Womack, the Elf's appearances are all good-hearted fun and entirely without an ulterior-and potentially unsettling-motive, which warms me towards the idea of the 'Elf on a Shelf' just a wee听 bit. However, I'm very grateful I didn't have 鈥淓lf on a Shelf鈥� to contend with in my mommying days, and I'm not certain I'd let the little plastic snitch in my house now.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Instead, I'll just continue checking out The Elf's activities on Facebook, because two can play that game. Right, Barbie?听

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Elf on the Shelf a little much Santa

By Kelly Running

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听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Now I haven鈥檛 read the children鈥檚 book that tells the story of the Elf on the Shelf, but on the Elf on the Shelf webpage I discovered that it is a 鈥渟pecial scout elf sent from the North Pole to help Santa Claus manage his naughty and nice lists.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 So, when a family adopts an elf it receives magic, which lets them fly back to the North Pole each night to report back to Santa about the day鈥檚 activities. Then they return, sometimes getting into their own mischief that evening after they return, and sits again to watch over the family.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I鈥檝e seen photos of Elsa from Frozen having caught the elf in a giant ice cube, the elf has made a mess in the kitchen with flour as they baked cookies, and I鈥檝e even seen a photo of him having set up a barrel racing course to enjoy with a toy horse on a counter.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I鈥檝e even been told by some people who have adopted an elf that if the child touches them while the elf is sitting perched there鈥檚 a chance they鈥檒l lose their magic and be unable to report to Santa. This seems quite sad, I never asked if they can get their magic back, but I would hope so. What if a kid touches the elf by accident?!

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Now parents give the elf assistance as needed, if the elf goes to make cookies, the parent is usually awoken by the elf to find all of the ingredients to use and where the bowls, etc鈥� are, which means that helping out the elf can be a fair amount of work for the parent every night.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 And the elf has to wake the parent up for help, not the kid, because they want the youth to have a good night鈥檚 sleep. This means kids will sleep through the night and will be well rested for the next day. This means that the parent doesn鈥檛 always get to have a good sleep though as they sometimes help the elf or sit up worrying about what kind of shenanigans the elf might get up to.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It seems like a lot of work for the parent to me.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The elf is a little bit materialistic too in my opinion as there is a whole line of clothing for them as well. Elves wear their uniforms and have grown up in the North Pole which means they are resilient in any weather, they鈥檝e already dressed for the weather, so do they really need other costumes?

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Also, I understand that Santa needs to know who鈥檚 naughty or nice, but does he need to know everything that happens in a day? People make mistakes, kids make mistakes, and would it not be stressful if you make a mistake and know somebody is going to be reporting you to Santa.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It seems like a situation that would make kids worry about messing up and when you鈥檙e a kid you make mistakes, you have to learn from them and move on, but I just personally don鈥檛 know if I like the idea of someone always watching you. Before, Santa would just check in on occasion throughout the year at random times without you really knowing when he鈥檚 checking in. It means the kid is being more themselves than when they鈥檙e constantly being watched to me.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 However, many people love having their elf around and very much enjoy this new Christmas tradition. I鈥檓 just saying for someone looking in on the tradition that I don鈥檛 think I care for it, then again I haven鈥檛 read the Elf on the Shelf origin story either so I might be way off in my interpretation of it. And I guess elves need jobs too and these are the jobs Santa gave this particular group of elves.