The "American Mood" is much discussed these days - and it is mostly about how much negativity there is in America. How do I know this? Here's an excellent example from the New York Times: Beware the Elf on the Shelf, Privacy Watchdogs Warn.
"The Elf on the Shelf, a rapidly growing phenomenon based on a 2004 book by Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell, has become a beloved Christmas tradition for many families. The elf hides in a different spot in the home each day in the weeks before Christmas, reporting children’s good behavior and misbehavior back to Santa Claus. For many children, finding the elf’s new location each morning is a highlight of the season, while parents get to exercise a bit of creativity.
The elf is not, several privacy organizations were careful to clarify, the biggest threat the world faces.
But they find him creepy. Invasive and dangerous, even. They fear that the lanky elf is teaching children all the wrong lessons, acclimating them to being monitored by a police state, teaching them to passively accept constantly being watched by an unseen authority figure."
And from there the debate gets underway. You can read it HERE.
Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst at the A.C.L.U. Speech, Privacy and Technology Project “Personally, I consider success as a parent to be teaching my kids to do the right thing even when nobody is watching, whether they be from the North Pole or anywhere else.”
He's not alone in being against the Elf on the Shelf.
"Most people, parents, are tired of the Elf, of moving it of playing this game."
The website creativegreenliving.com has found many ideas for how to get rid of the Elf. Some are how to stop him from moving around, others are to send him away for good. Here are a few:
1. break his leg - put him in a body cast so he can't move 2. quarantine him - COVID 3. send him on a freedom vacation 4. he's gone to a family that needs watching 5. install the Santa spy cam to replace him 6. international pixie dust shortage so not enough dust to send out all the elves to shelves
In all, there are " 11 proven ways" to get rid of Elf on a Shelf. And then there are ways on How to say goodbye to your Elf on the Shelf. You can find out how to throw an Elf on the Shelf goodbye party, too.
I have decided on a COVID distraction for this "quarantine" period. Let's hope it doesn't go far beyond the twelve days of Christmas. But then who knows?
The project is a set of twelve Heart collages. Here's the one based on a recent abstract I did titled The Ladder. The ladder is in the bottom right heart - at the bottom on the left. Sort of like an Elf on a Shelf moment.
