Does your kid believe in Elf on the Shelf? Do they believe in Santa? How old are they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in an elementary school. Any child who claims to still believe by 4th grade is willfully ignorant or faking because by 4th grade the reality is openly discussed by so many kids.

I would agree but some kid's parents do the magic right. My son believed until he was 12; he's 31 now and having his own baby.

Santa brought us all gifts (still does).

My niece and nephew believe at 8 and 10. My sister is over it but she's going to keep it going. They only get to be young once; the reality of life is horrible. So why not let them believe and be kids longer.

[Anonymous]

My 10 yr old I think is just in denial. I told him I would not buy him an iPad or a lizard and he said, but what about Santa 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Anonymous]

My kindergartener just asked about the Elf yesterday, some kids were talking about it at school. We're big into Santa but I told her all of the reasons I think Elf is creepy and wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elf on the Shelf is just wrong. Anyone who is teaching their child that this is a REAL thing has serious, serious problems.

Hello Grinch.

It is real, you'll see. It will show up December 1st and move every night while we're asleep and travel back to the North Pole and report back to Santa about my child' behavior. The effect on my Child's not fully formed Child brain is magical. To my Child it is real. Cultivating imagination in Children is very healthy. Everyday and everything is obviously not a fairytale in our home, but there is nothing wrong with having some fun and festive traditions for young children. Trust me, when they find out these things are not real (ages 9-10 most likely), some of the magic is gone.

For now it's real, nothing wrong with cultivating and developing a child's imagination. They have the rest of their lives to live without such magic and the realities of life; most folks don't teach young children such realities right away.

THIS - Honestly I think our kids are more excited about our Elf than Santa. The Elf visits every day for 24 days and they can somewhat engage with her. Santa visits one night and they don't see him. The way their faces light up when they talk about the elf is enough motivation for me to continue with the PITA nightly routine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in an elementary school. Any child who claims to still believe by 4th grade is willfully ignorant or faking because by 4th grade the reality is openly discussed by so many kids.

I would agree but some kid's parents do the magic right. My son believed until he was 12; he's 31 now and having his own baby.

Santa brought us all gifts (still does).

My niece and nephew believe at 8 and 10. My sister is over it but she's going to keep it going. They only get to be young once; the reality of life is horrible. So why not let them believe and be kids longer.

+1

[Anonymous]

I will add that when my oldest was born 10 years ago everyone was like "oh get ready for the elf!" And i was like "no we wont do that" and they were all like "you say that now!".

We never did it. Around maybe age 4 my son asked why we didn't have an elf and I told him it was a tradition some families followed but it wasnt connected to Santa. He saw the elves in Target for sale and realized they were just toys. It was fairly easy to avoid.

If you dont want to do it, just dont

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had planned to do Santa is real but my kid straight up asked me when she was 2 and I couldn't bring myself to lie to her so that was the end of that.

Seriously? Christ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elf on the Shelf is just wrong. Anyone who is teaching their child that this is a REAL thing has serious, serious problems.

Hello Grinch.

It is real, you'll see. It will show up December 1st and move every night while we're asleep and travel back to the North Pole and report back to Santa about my child' behavior. The effect on my Child's not fully formed Child brain is magical. To my Child it is real. Cultivating imagination in Children is very healthy. Everyday and everything is obviously not a fairytale in our home, but there is nothing wrong with having some fun and festive traditions for young children. Trust me, when they find out these things are not real (ages 9-10 most likely), some of the magic is gone.

For now it's real, nothing wrong with cultivating and developing a child's imagination. They have the rest of their lives to live without such magic and the realities of life; most folks don't teach young children such realities right away.

OMG. It's not cultivating your snowflake's imagination, it's just creepy AF. READ your post, you sound absolutely insane.

[Anonymous]

Elf on the Shelf is for SAHMs who post on instagram constantly. Get a life, mommas!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in an elementary school. Any child who claims to still believe by 4th grade is willfully ignorant or faking because by 4th grade the reality is openly discussed by so many kids.

+1

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes last year when my brother and SIL insisted that my niece and nephew (middle schoolers! 5th and 6th grade!) still believed in Santa. Um. No. They’re taking algebra for god’s sake, they’re not idiots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in an elementary school. Any child who claims to still believe by 4th grade is willfully ignorant or faking because by 4th grade the reality is openly discussed by so many kids.

+1

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes last year when my brother and SIL insisted that my niece and nephew (middle schoolers! 5th and 6th grade!) still believed in Santa. Um. No. They’re taking algebra for god’s sake, they’re not idiots.

First of all 5th and 6th grade way too young for middle school. What's wrong if they have fun with santa whether they actually still believe or not? Why are we trying to rush childhood?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in an elementary school. Any child who claims to still believe by 4th grade is willfully ignorant or faking because by 4th grade the reality is openly discussed by so many kids.

+1

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes last year when my brother and SIL insisted that my niece and nephew (middle schoolers! 5th and 6th grade!) still believed in Santa. Um. No. They’re taking algebra for god’s sake, they’re not idiots.

First of all 5th and 6th grade way too young for middle school. What's wrong if they have fun with santa whether they actually still believe or not? Why are we trying to rush childhood?

You’ve just decided that no middle school can have 6th grade? Just like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in an elementary school. Any child who claims to still believe by 4th grade is willfully ignorant or faking because by 4th grade the reality is openly discussed by so many kids.

+1

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes last year when my brother and SIL insisted that my niece and nephew (middle schoolers! 5th and 6th grade!) still believed in Santa. Um. No. They’re taking algebra for god’s sake, they’re not idiots.

First of all 5th and 6th grade way too young for middle school. What's wrong if they have fun with santa whether they actually still believe or not? Why are we trying to rush childhood?

You’ve just decided that no middle school can have 6th grade? Just like that?

I've decided? Lol, no, I can't make that decision obviously, but no they shouldn't.

[Anonymous]

We never did the elf. But my 10 yo still seems to believe in Santa. So did my teen at that age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in an elementary school. Any child who claims to still believe by 4th grade is willfully ignorant or faking because by 4th grade the reality is openly discussed by so many kids.

+1

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes last year when my brother and SIL insisted that my niece and nephew (middle schoolers! 5th and 6th grade!) still believed in Santa. Um. No. They’re taking algebra for god’s sake, they’re not idiots.

First of all 5th and 6th grade way too young for middle school. What's wrong if they have fun with santa whether they actually still believe or not? Why are we trying to rush childhood?

You’ve just decided that no middle school can have 6th grade? Just like that?

I've decided? Lol, no, I can't make that decision obviously, but no they shouldn't.

But they do. So what you think is irrelevant. Saying a 6th grader shouldn’t be in the school for 6th graders is weird.