As a professional Santa, and as a believer in the true Christmas message, I am not a fan of Elf on the Shelf.
The story and the doll seem like a marketing ploy. Yes, I know there are a lot of marketing ploys surrounding the secular celebration of Christmas. If it was only that with the elf, I'd just sigh and move on.
But the spying aspect really bugs me. The elf is being used to frighten, to intimidate the children.
Santa is used that way, too - "If you're not good, Santa won't bring you any presents," or "If you are bad, Santa will give you coal." When I hear parents say that it makes my skin crawl. And when they say something like, "If you don't take a picture with Santa, he won't bring you gifts," I get really irked. I hold my tongue, but I want to say to such parents, "You've just put yourself on the naughty list."
But there's just something insidious about making kids believe they are constantly being spied on - and these spies report to Santa.
Spymaster Claus???
Santa is not the CIA!
Are we training the children to accept the government and others watching them constantly? Hmmm.
As for it being a "tradition," come on. It's a manufactured "tradition" that's just a little over a decade old. That's not a tradition. It's just marketing. Yes, being a professional Santa involves marketing - and when I was a mall Santa I was helping to sell photos (I now do Santa gigs for hire, for free, and for non-commercial purposes). But this just seems to go too far.
Bah!. Humbug!
Pax et bonum
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