What the Elf?

Ohmygosh! I can’t take it anymore!

If I see another complaint about people who do or don’t elf their shelves, I just might lose it. Who cares whether you elf or not? This is ridiculous, people. What should we argue about next–star vs. angel on top of your tree?

You know what makes traditions special? It’s something YOU do, something YOU can look forward to with excitement, something that inspires a nostalgic feeling in YOU. I can think of three traditions from my childhood that do just that:

1.) My mom would make us “love jammies” every year and on Christmas Eve we would open that present and get to wear them to bed.

2.) Every year (even to this day) my mom hides a pickle ornament on the Christmas tree and my sisters and I fight to find it first and win a prize. No joke, I haven’t won in over a decade…

3.) When we would set up our nativity scene, we’d wait and put baby Jesus out on Christmas morning when He was born. My sister and I would argue about who gets to do it. It turned into a game of hide-and-seek-Jesus. One of us would hide baby Jesus, with the hopes we would put Him out Christmas morning. If the other one found it, they’d re-hide it. Whoever still had Him in their hiding spot on Christmas morning put Him out.

These traditions bring back the warmest of memories of Christmas past–laughter, innocence, joy, celebration. Our traditions fuel the Christmas spirit–a joyful, generous, peaceful spirit. If visiting Santa, going to a midnight Christmas Eve service, or walking door-to-door singing carols fuels your Christmas spirit, then do it. If eating Chinese food, foregoing gifts for a vacation, or celebrating the German tradition of Krampus (the Christmas devil who hauls naughty kids to the underworld) puts you in the Christmas spirit, then do it. And for the love of all things Christmas–if anthropomorphizing an elf doll puts you and yours in the Christmas spirit, then you do it! And if elfing your shelf stresses you out and saps your Christmas joy, don’t do it! But why do we need to be complaining about what another family is or isn’t doing to put their own family into the joyous mood of the holidays?

I have two older sisters. One doesn’t elf. One does. To be honest, I couldn’t care less. But I do enjoy seeing pictures. I like seeing people get caught up in the celebration and magic of this time of year, whether it’s by doing elf on the shelf, going to see Christmas lights, building a snowman, seeing Santa, or by lighting a menora or a kinara. I like seeing the joy shared by all this time of year. Traditions are an expression of the spirit of the holidays. If you need to wear matching Christmas jammies, do it. Sleep under the Christmas tree, do it. Watch Hallmark Channel non-stop, do it. Blind your neighbors with your light display, do it. Drink copious amounts of eggnog to survive family gatherings, do it…responsibly. Because no matter what you believe, this season is meant to give JOY TO THE WORLD. How you choose to express it is up to you.

So please, let’s agree to stop with the “Why We Elf” and “Why We Don’t Elf” blogs, articles, and Facebook posts. Let’s stop commenting about how people are robbing their kids of Christmas magic or being lazy or lying to them. Let’s not get so hung up on a tradition, but look past and see the spirit that drives it. It’s the same lesson the Grinch learned, and like he says, “‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”