Comment: If you have not encountered this new-fangled Christmas game, count yourself lucky, writes Caitlin Fitzsimmons | niltiac
, a wreath on the door, Christmas cards from my kith and kin, and crank up the carols. I’ve bought advent calendars for my children, tickets to, and I’m looking forward to Christmas baking. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all marvellous.Let's be real – this is a commercial con to trick parents into buying stuff we don't need. The unintended consequence is it traps parents in an exhausting game, while teaching our kids to be comfortable with surveillance.
But have you considered how hard it might be to stop? Realistically, you are committed for the rest of the Christmas season and every year after that until all the children are old enough to know it’s not real.Busy parents may find themselves dealing with upset children because the elf “forgot” to make its nightly trip back to the North Pole and stayed put overnight.
If you are looking for inspiration, there is plenty on sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Perhaps the elf arrives on the front step in a pile of fake snow and a note begging to be let in out of the cold. Perhaps the elf leaves passive-aggressive notes admonishing children for behaviour that could put them in Santa’s bad books. On a happier day, the elf might be sitting atop an empty box of candy canes, telling the children to go on a treasure hunt.
It's nothing new for parents to trick children into good behaviour by pretending Santa is always watching but having an actual physical artefact somehow makes it worse.
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