Today, on the Feast Day of St. Nicholas, we're delivering a message: you're being watched. But before any panic sets in, remember it's not a bad thing. Kerry Trotter explores the intercession of both saint and Santa, and how a little gnome on a mantle doesn't hold a candle to the blessed.
I love a good Christmas tradition. I really do. Secular and religious alike — trees, mangers, mistletoe, candy canes, carols, Santa — the works.
But there’s one thing that I can’t quite get behind.
Elf on a Shelf.
If you’re not a parent of young children, this new phenomenon may have eluded you. The Elf on a Shelf is a foot-long, androgynous, red-suited doll that sits on much more than shelves in the build-up to Christmas to spy on your kids. The accompanying book (it’s brilliantly marketed) explains that each elf, which kids get to name, zips off to the North Pole every night to debrief Santa on the behavioral ups and downs of its charges, then zips back to the home to appear in a new and surprising spot before the kiddies awaken.
Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.
Perhaps it’s because my daughter is still too young to grasp the whole naughty vs. nice thing, or perhaps it’s the doll’s creepy little face, or perhaps it’s due to the fact that a new tradition was fabricated out of thin air to do the dirty work of parental discipline all the while raking in major dough for retailers...