Some of you have probably read the “people I want to punch in the throat” blog mentioning the Elf on the Shelf overachiever moms. I found it very ironic that this blog hit my fb news feed the same day our own little elf arrived. I thought the blog was hilarious, and while some of the things mentioned I would never, ever do (like the whole pillow fight thing) the main reason I got the elf was to do those fun things with it for the kids.
I didn’t get the elf to tattle on my kids, I don’t expect them to behave any different at Christmastime than I expect them to behave the rest of the year. They do though…they behave worse if anything! But I don’t say (or won’t) “the elf is watching you”, they’ll get in trouble just like they would if Jingle (our elf) wasn’t here. We decided to get the elf because I saw how much fun it would be for the kids. Friends of mine would post pictures on fb showing where their elf was, or what the elf was doing, and I could just imagine how excited their kids would be to wake up and find him. Seeing those pictures, or hearing those stories, made me want to get an elf for my kids, to add to the fun of the season. And seeing them find him last night when he arrived, and this morning when he had moved was 100% worth it. They keep watching him to see if he has moved a leg, an arm, if he winks, it is so fun for me to watch them light up when they think he’s crossed a leg a little more than it was before.
We absolutely do Santa, we tell the kids we still believe in Santa, and of course he doesn’t show up for the people that don’t believe in him. Do I think that by encouraging Santa and our kids belief in him that they don’t know what Christmas is really about? No way. If you ask any of my kids what Christmas is about they won’t say Santa, presents, Jingle, Rudolf or anything except Jesus’ birthday. They know that Christmas is about celebrating Jesus’ birth. It is completely possible to add a little “magic” to the holiday without taking away what it is truly about. (Oh no! I said holiday & not Christmas…that is a completely different blog though!)
I guess while I did think it was funny, the overachiever blog annoyed me a little because why does she care what other moms do for their kids? It’s the same way I don’t understand when someone says that a “supermom” annoys them, why the hell do they care what someone wants to do for their kids? Yeah, I try to be a “supermom” or an “overachiever” mom, because that’s the kind of mom I want to be. Do I think if you aren’t striving to be one of those that you’re a bad mom, absolutely not. Do I think if you don’t do all the same stuff I do for my kids that you suck, no way. Mom’s often say they feel judged by the so-called supermoms out there, but don’t they think “we” feel just as judged? They think we judge them for what they don’t do for their kids, but from my own experience we get judged just as much for what we do.
Judging each other as moms is so completely stupid. As long as you’re not abusing your child, I really don’t care what kind of mom you are. Honestly, if I see you smoking in the car with your kid, or your kid jumping all over the car while you’re driving, I might think you suck a little, but not completely. But I still don’t think you’re a bad mom, because there may be things you do way better than I do for my kids. I do the things I do for my kids, and for my husband, because it is what I want to do, not because I feel like I need to compete with anyone, or because I need to show-off what I do, or because I think I’m better than anyone.
So if I want my effin elf to cause mischief and be moved more than from one shelf to another, I will and you can bite me if you don’t like it. (or punch me in the throat)
