If you’re a parent that has mistakenly gone down the Elf On The Shelf path, I’m sure you’ve been in the situation where youve had a glass of six of wine and gone to bed forgetting to move the little bastard. Then to be woken up to the disappointment of your little crotch goblins wondering why the elf didn’t move. I’ve come up with a solution that hasn’t failed me yet.

Now, I know this exact solution won’t apply to everyone, but it should at least get your years grinding on how you can use your smart home to remind you to move it.

I have an Inovelli wall switch that the LED light on it can be used as a notification in my bedroom. In my case, at 9pm every night, it goes to full brightness and flashes red…it’s pretty bright, I can’t miss it. This is my reminder to move the elf. Once I do, I clear the notification and it goes back to normal.

  • benargee@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Even “smarter” idea is to put an IMU or other motion sensor inside the elf. If it hasn’t detected movement by a certain time, you get a specific notification telling you so.

  • neanderthalman@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Option B:

    A farewell letter from the elf. Based on his reports to the big guy, it has been determined that the children are at low risk of being on the naughty list, and further observation is not warranted. He has been reassigned to another post and has enjoyed his time with them.

    Then burn it, bury the ashes, and piss on the spot.

  • alchemyearth@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Ugh. Shit. I forgot that guy existed… Thanks for the reminder. Also thanks for whoever bought it for us… :/

  • Figran_D@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    “ mom/dad… johnny and Susie at school have an elf on a shelf, how come we don’t ?”

    “ son /daughter… we don’t have one as you guys behave” “ I’m guessing their parents need extra help and eyes on them around the holidays not just us and Santa’s”

    Never had one, always had the question, never had to move that dam thing around.

    But …. You do you and what’s right for your family. Every family sees the magic a different way .

    • BreakfastBeerz@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      So they clearly are fascinated by it and wish they had an elf too, so you lie to them because you can’t be troubled to move it every night?

      • Figran_D@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Not questioning your commitment to the elf and I think your idea was very clever.

        I was generally commenting on my technique so I didn’t have to double lie to them in the future when the annoying neighborhood teenager that spoils the “ secret” on the bus ride home or at the lunch table.

        We all do parenting different, would I do it again if I had kids that age again … maybe:)

        Have a great Christmas!

  • BigPandaCloud@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I always found elf on a shelf idea freaks me out. I grew up watching movies like

    Cat’s Eye (1985)

    The Gate (1987)

    Dolls (1987)

    Childs Play (1988)

    • forceblast@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      My wife made this mistake for us. (Getting the elves)

      I love her but I am now considering divorce.

      (Kidding about the divorce part … mostly.)

      🤣

    • orangeflos@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I’m sure there’s some quantity of money which would convince me to buy that thing. I’m also sure it’s very very large.

      Elf on the shelf: hard pass.

    • Majestic_Dildocorn@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      We started with “We don’t allow Fae in the house, not after what happened last time” with the tooth fairy. It keeps going with that stupid elf.

    • cosmicsans@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      When my kids asked why we don’t have an elf on the shelf I told them because Santa trusts me and I can just write him and he’ll know what’s up, Santa doesn’t trust the other kids parents and needs to send the elf

  • PineappleOk462@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I don’t like the Big Brother is watching vibe. Bad enough you have this Old Guy in the clouds watching our every move and then this guy in the North Pole with his magic snowball and his elf spies.

    How about about just being good for goodness sake and giving Mom a break?

  • Imalobsterlover@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    We had Yule Nissen when my son was little. It was a tiny pinecone elf. The tradition, which started in Scandinavia I believe, was to hide the elf somewhere in the house with a tiny toy or treat. For 7 mornings before Christmas my son would have to search for Yule Nissen. He loved it. We loved it because the elf could be taken secretly at any time and hidden for the next morning’s search.

  • PuzzlingDad@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I used to have a similar automation for putting the garbage cans out the night before and bringing them back in the next evening. I was even planning to add sensors to the cans to verify if they had been moved or not.

    Then I switched to a pair of recurring alarms on my phone and found it was easier to deal with. If I decided one day to put them out or bring them in earlier, I just swiped down and dismissed the alarm.

  • smarthomepursuits@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I would go one step further. Otherwise, it flashes red whether you or you SO already moved it.

    Scan NFC tag once elf is moved (or smart button press) to toggle an Input boolean. If I put Boolean is ON, then it won’t flash red that night. Then create an automation to reset it to off the next day.

    • JAP42@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Go a step further and put the NFC in the elf. Scan when you move and an save a location to a database.