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Elf on the Shelf: Fun or a little bit creepy...

12/18/2015

5 Comments

 
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The Elf on a Shelf: is a 2004 children's picture book, written and self-published by American author Carol Aebersold and daughter Chanda Bell and illustrated by Coë Steinwart. The book tells a Christmas-themed story, written in rhyme, that explains how Santa Claus knows who is naughty and who is nice. It describes elves visiting children between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, after which they return to the North Pole until the next holiday season. The Elf on the Shelf comes in a special box that features a hardbound picture book and a small soft toy in the form of a pixie scout elf.
The magic and the rules begin when a family “adopts” an elf and gives it a name. And then, the Christmas fun begins. The elf can’t move when it is being observed, but at night it can get into all kinks of mischief. Of course the parents can move the elf at night and make it appear to do mystical things like pour sugar on the floor or make snow angels in flour. But, the children aren’t allowed to touch the elf at all. Ostensibly the only task for the elf is to watch the child for naughty and nice behavior and fly back to the North Pole to “report” to Santa.
And, as we all know, children have very active imaginations and have a belief in those magical skills of the elf. But the question has to be asked, is the subtle message being offered that there is no privacy and the elf will tattle on all behavior? At first I thought that this is no different than Santa who knows who is naughty and nice and the elf. But then it occurred to me that children can have some dialog with Santa at the mall, through letters to the North Pole, and with other children and parents. But the elf is different. He is all-knowing and all-seeing, and children can see this as a bit creepy. So, here is a thought to counter that possibility. Change the rules! Allow the children to move the elf on alternate nights and give them some control over the power of the elf. They could put it near the liquor cabinet or other “sensitive” places. Who loses privacy then?
Another product that has real privacy concerns is the new “Hello Barbie” from Mattel.  It has an embedded microphone and the child can tell Barbie everything. This then goes to the cloud (web based servers) and the information is available to Mattel and the parents; and, anyone who has hacked the server! “Hi Barbie, my name is Amy and I live at 1234 Shady Lane in any town USA. I live with my mother and… Well, you get the picture. Let’s hope that she doesn’t get the credit card.
The holidays used to be a simple time when we used fear of “no presents” to control behavior and technology has allowed us to fear everything about our privacy. It truly is a Brave New World…


5 Comments
Marilyn
12/28/2015 04:47:16 pm

It's not so much the Elf on the Shelf, Ballistic Gelatin, or even coloring Plaster of Paris (which is how I got here...) but the breadth and depth of your interests. How did you get started? This site is fascinating. I've spent a big chunk of this evening just window-shopping through notes.

As my physical self is slowly giving way to Chronos I find my mental self kicking into higher gears. At this rate I expect to achieve a mental Ferrari 6th gear well before I reach stasis....

Reply
Ken
12/29/2015 10:51:47 am

Hello Marilyn,
I am not completely sure how I got started but I have always been curious about the world around me and really like to share my toys with others in the sandbox. I am fascinated by just about everything and blessed or cursed by the need to be creative. So, this site is a product of a labor of love and the desire to share what I think I know with my readers. My "info-lust" drives me to learn and pass it on and let the reader decide if there is any inherent value in what I post. (Who said lust is a bad thing?). I used to be perplexed by the lack of comments on some posts and determined that I was either a very clever and clear writer, or more likely, there was limited interest. That was verified when I began posting original research on the science page where there are some posts with over 200 comments. But, fortunately I don't live in the superficial word of thumbs up and thumbs down. I continue to hope that my posts are either informative, entertaining, or thought provoking. The entries have to stand on their own. From the very beginning I wanted a site that was open-source, had no product endorsements, was advertising free, and I could be identified easily. I have and still do post my email address: [email protected]. I believe in honesty and integrity, and sometimes being frivolous. Finally, I appreciate your kind words and hope to see you as a frequent visitor. May your Ferrari go fast and true! Thanks, Ken.

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Marilyn
12/30/2015 03:10:58 am

Jest not about my Ferrari! My husband gave me a Ferrari Grand Prix for my birthday. (Well- a Lego kit, actually.) So there.
It's just it's rare to find a sound mind combined with a bump of curiosity, a sound command of the written language and the willingness to put it all out there.
PS He has also given me a dumptruck, a fire engine and a caboose!

Erika
9/5/2016 12:34:18 am

The senario is note worthy but overall very negative.

Reply
edgestar wine fridge link
7/5/2021 01:42:47 am

Elf on the Shelf: this is a movie I have never seen. I'll probably look it up and check it out.

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