Elf on the Shelf... be prepared to be pissed off.

Yeah I suck at blogging. I know. I am working less now, but don't seem to have a ton more time. I do put a lot on myself for the holidays and have been busy busting my ass baking and decorating and trying to keep up with regular life. I think I am failing at that.
I've written half blog posts in my head a few times this month but haven't had time to actually type them out, but I wanted to get this one out because I am annoyed. And I feel bed because there are a couple people who read the blog and have been asking lol. A couple anyways ;)

This blog may offend you or make you defensive if you have children. Let me start off with this blog is about MY family and our choices for OUR children. I could give a crap what you do with your kids or for them. Honestly, I don't care unless it affects my kids. So before you read this and get upset- realize this is my opinion on my blog. If you don't like it, cool.

I HATE the Elf on the Shelf. Not only do I think he is fucking creepy and would scurry around my house while I slept, peering at me in my bed trying to decide how to murder me- I think the idea is awful. The Elf is watching you and reporting back to Santa so YOU BETTER BE A GOOD BOY/ GIRL!!! My husband and I discussed early on how we would not use Santa as a behavior control. I refuse to say "be good or Santa won't come!!" because I refuse to use empty threats. I think that unless you are actually willing to follow through- don't say it. Let's face it, my 4 year old would have to stab someone for Santa not to come. Even then, I would be more concerned with slamming him in some psyc facility where he would get the help he needed and santa would probably still come.
I think the Elf is one more mode of behavior control (now I sound like Rob lol) employed by parents who think "it's fun!" without thinking of the actual reasons behind it. I am not slamming anyone else's parenting, just urging others to THINK about why you do what you do. WHY is the elf watching? WHY should a child behave? I don't want my kids to behave because someone is "watching" and if they don't they won't get presents. What kind of adults does this create? Ones that think it's ok to act like hoodlums if no one is watching?
I hope that I am able to instill a sense of responsibility in my children. I can hear some of my friends saying I am going too far with this elf thing and I can understand that position. It really has to start somewhere. All too often, I feel we do exactly what our parents did. Not to say they didn't do the best they could. My parents did kickass obviously.... but I don't remember my mom saying if I wasn't good Santa wouldn't come. Maybe she did and I just have a shitty memory I don't know.
My point to all this is that we need to live with intention. Make choices for our families with intention- think about WHY we do things and how they will impact us and the people around us. Don't blindly buy an Elf because Pinterest has cute pictures of him making snow angels in flour and it's a fun game. Don't blindly do a workout program because so and so says so- find out WHY it's good and why it may not be for YOU. Don't blindly shove 8 cookies in your mouth because it's the holidays. Make choices- conscious well thought out choices. Take a moment to think about what you want and where each choice will take you.
Intention people. If you need to create some space in your mind to be able to make these choices, come join me for yoga :)