When our 10 year old daughter wanted a shelf elf, I declined for the same reason I never respond to FB posts that order you to watch this or respond to this or share this, or take this survey or a multitude of other things. My daughter deserves all the time I can give her, but I draw the line with having come up with daily elf situations to amuse, especially when my wife said she won’t have anything to do with it either.
That’s really what it should boil down to, right? It should be a parent’s choice. There’s nothing wrong with not doing it, which should go without saying.
I’ve noticed that some of the craze is driven by parental peer-pressure. That’s not why we do it. We (my wife and I) think it’s something fun for the kids so we do it. Truth be told we put pretty much no effort into it compared to what others do. We just pick a new place for it to sit every day, and that’s the beginning and end of it for us. Neither of us have the time, energy, or desire to concoct the elaborate scenarios that some do for this.