The Elf on the Shelf-A Non-Parent's Review--By Julie

I think I first saw the phenomenon of the Elf on the Shelf about 3 years ago. I might have heard of people doing it before then, but that was when I noticed the marketing behind the whole thing through TV ads. I'll put it bluntly: I don't get it.

When I first researched the whole thing, the only thing I could find was that this elf was supposed to be used as "Santa's Spy" so that kids would be good during the holiday season. The amount of craziness that statement packs is beyond me. Since that time, I can only see that the Elf has become this personality that apparently gets into mischief at night. Or, this is what my Facebook feed leads me to believe. Pictures abound of their family's Elf latest situation.

I still don't get it.

I was born with a very logical brain and outlook on life. Even as a child, there were a lot of things about Santa that just didn't add up to me. You may find this sad, but I never really believed in him. My parents weren't the kind to push Santa (they are good conservative Baptists). They never said anything bad about him. He just wasn't a big deal in our house. So anyone telling me that this one man delivered gifts to the whole world in one night with some flying reindeer was looked at sideways. I distinctly remember being a kindergartener and being told by my teacher one day that we were going to write our "letters to Santa". This did not compute for me. Why? What was I supposed to say? Oh, we are supposed to ask for something for Christmas. ...... Why? So, in one of the only times I ever cheated on an assignment, I copied the boy next to me. He was asking for a bike. Seemed like a good enough thing to write to Santa about.

I never thought about that letter again until I was old enough to appreciate the whole Santa conspiracy. Back in kindergarten, our sneaky teacher gave those letters to our parents. I started to piece the puzzle together. That was the year that I got a scooter for Christmas. It seems that my parents thought I was too young for a bike. Especially considering that I was bound to inherit my older sister's bike eventually. Why buy another one? So, I got a scooter. And, I was thrilled and it had nothing to do with Santa.

Flash forward to my adult years and imagine me finding out that the Elf on the Shelf is the Christmas tradition that we must all subscribe to (said in my best television-marketing voice). I think my first reaction was something of disgust. I couldn't believe that parents were buying into some toy manufacturer's marketing that they must now tell more holiday lies to their children to con them into good behavior. The ridiculousness of it all! I saw it in action just once when I was around my nieces over the holidays. Their mom kept talking about their Elf and what he would tell Santa. The amount of eye rolling from me was criminal, I'm sure.

But, as most things do, the Elf has evolved. It seems that we are all sinful! The elf, once Santa's tattletale, is now finding himself in a few sticky situations. Apparently he is getting bored watching the kids have fun. So, now, it is up to parents to create mischief scenes with their Elf for their kids to find every morning during the holidays.

This isn't so bad on the surface. I like being irreverent and silly. And, as a child, that's super fun. But, now comes the feelings of inadequacy that I only imagine is constant in any parent's life. It appears that now you must strive to be the most creative parent with these scenes. Who can out "Elf" their friends and post the photo evidence on Facebook? And, to help you along and stress you out further, there are plenty of Pinterest tips for creating these Elf scenes. I'm a little over it.

The only thing that keeps me from writing off the entire Elf situation is when I see the truly funny scenes. It usually comes from folks that have boys who may be a little bit older. Or, possibly from people with zero kids and like making inappropriate settings with their Elf. Do a quick Google search for inappropriate Elf on the Shelf. Eye opening, to say the least.

I, myself, am looking forward to a completely adult holiday season. One without Elves on Shelves. It works for me... or it will until I have kids and I will guilt-trip myself into doing these things just so my child isn't the one who doesn't have what their friends have. Oh the vicious cycle...

A Merry Christmas to all my Weekend Fatties!
- Julie Bunkley will be spending her holiday with her grown siblings and parents and no children. The only elves in her holiday will be her dogs who have the cutest elf hats to coordinate with their Christmas collars.

I appreciate Julie's perspective on this, and tend to agree and fall somewhere on the "I don't get it/I don't agree with it" perspective when it comes to the Elf. Another one of our bloggers, Romelle, wrote a blog on this last year that I want to share with you all. So here's the link to get her perspective. Romelle has 6 kids, so her take is slightly different than Julie's. If you have an opinion on this, feel free to weigh in through comments, or if you want to write a post, send it to catidwell222@gmail.com. Now, here's that link to Romelle's blog!

--Amber

Ch-Ch-Changes!

If you're a Weekend Fatty and keep up with this blog on a regular basis, you've probably noticed we have some repeat offenders, er, bloggers. I think it's time to introduce them and to let you know about a few changes here at Weekend Fat.

Amber (For those of you who don't know, that's me.)

I started this blog back in May for a few reasons:

1. I am living in China this year and found myself with a MASSIVE amount of free time. 

2. I am a pop-culture junkie and found myself wanting to start conversations about things I was reading. 3. I noticed that the things I wanted to talk about were being written about on other blogs, sometimes with the exact same angles I had in mind. I didn't want to stand on the sidelines anymore.

4. I have another blog that's more personal, more about me and my life. I noticed when I blogged about Glee or music or Helen Mirren, the readers for those posts were TOTALLY different than the ones who normally read. Market discovered.

5. My friend Meredith gave me a boost of encouragement one weekend that inspired me to stop talking about it and just do it.

It's been 6 months and I gotta say, I am very pleased with the results so far. The average post gets about 90 readers. The most read (my friend Julie's rebuttal/defense to me about Jennifer Aniston) has over 400 hits. The next few most popular (ringing in at over 300 hits) were the ones about Magic Mike and Honey Boo Boo. The total number of individual readers that have come into contact with the blog and stayed for at least a minute, is around 12,000 from what I can tell, though I think it's safe to say that we have a steady following of about 250. Considering I only have about 750 Facebook friends, I think it's safe to say that the Google machine is putting Weekend Fat "on the map." Of course, the world of pop-culture is big, and while I will never run out of topics, I know (hope) that my schedule will change once I go back to America. 

In preparation for that, I will be cutting down to 3 posts a week. But my friends will be contributing, and you, are more than welcomed to do the same. Just email me your post (or ideas!) at catidwell222@gmail.com and we will go from there.

Now...here's who you might see blogging in the future:

Vicky

Vicky-Timing is everything, and I met Vicky through an awesome organization back in Auburn, Alabama that we both got to be a part of, The Layman Group, before it disbanded. We hit it off. Vicky is a theater junkie and super talented with all things related to it. She and her husband now live in Tallahassee, Florida. In my mind, Vicky likes pretty things and laughing a lot. 

Julie

Julie-I met Julie through The Layman Group too, though when I was working at Starbucks in Auburn, she was a regular, so it's hard to know how we actually became friends. In all honesty, she reminded me of someone (no clue who) so it felt like we'd been friends for a while. Julie is a brilliant event planner who has an appreciation for all things Jennifer Aniston, fashion, and Greyhounds. The dogs, not the bus. I cannot imagine Julie on a bus. You can find her blog here.

Sandi

Sandi-I met Sandi in New Orleans when she was 12, but now she lives in Boone, North Carolina and works as a nanny while finishing her degree in Child Development. Sandi devours a lot of really thick books and TV, her greatest fault is that she doesn't like scary things. Her take on pop-culture is fresh and transparent. She is just as likely to be seen watching Game of Thrones as she is Ina Garten. I'm not sure how she'd do in a sword fight, but I know she's a great cook.

Carmen

Carmen-I met Carmen while working at a camp in my teenage years, and though we might be as opposite in personality as two people can be, I liked her snark, her honesty, and the way her hair was always perfect. Now she lives in North Alabama and we have shared pop-culture interests for well over 10 years, including the summer we spent in Montana speaking in movie quotes over long distance calls across the state. She is quite possibly the biggest Veronica Mars fan on the planet, but I have heard her perfectly quote entire episodes of Friends. I pick on her about liking Kristen Stewart, but she does make a convincing case. And that's the thing about Carmen, she can always defend, justify, and explain in detail her reason for liking whatever is that she likes. 

Romelle

Romelle-Romelle is a fellow blogger/wanna be writer who lives in North Carolina. She would want you to know that she has 6 children (one who was married in May and one who will be married in a few weeks) leaving her 4 at home that she Home Schools. She errs on the conservative side of life, loves British drama, hates Anne Hathaway and other shallow ridiculous things, and is probably one of the most quickly clever people I have ever met. We are currently in a stand off about my never having watched Freaks and Geeks. (I will get to it!) You can find her blog here.

Vanessa

Vanessa-Vanessa lives in Fresno, California and is the youngest contributor to Weekend Fat. Since graduating from high school last year, she has been working like crazy on her photography. She has a brilliant eye, and I am convinced she has potential to be the next Annie Leibovitz or National Geographic photographer. You can find her photography on her Facebook page, Vanessa D. Photography. Her pop-culture tastes are black and white, meaning she either loves things or hates them. She is a huge HIMYM fan, and recently called me crying at 2am because she finally finished Six Feet Under. 

Meredith

Meredith-I met Meredith when I worked at Starbucks in Auburn, Alabama, she was a fellow Barista, relocated from New York. She was also heavily involved in The Layman Group. I knew instantly that we would be friends, but she was slower on the uptake. Eventually we found ourselves making the shifts at the 'Bucks' fly, by talking non-stop about pop-culture. She's got a unique perspective on pop-culture, usually laser focused on what she likes, but unpredictable all the same. Though she hasn't written an actual guest post yet, she promises me that there's one (or more) coming. Even if it never materializes, she gives me lots of my ideas for posts and positive feedback that keep this blog going. You can read some of her insights at Verge Pipe Media's blog.

Um, first of all, aren't my friends supermodels? Yeah, I think so too.

Ok, so from here on out, you'll be hearing from me, mixed in a little more with these gals (and possibly even my mother!). I will put a "By" line in the subject when anyone other than me writes, and they will also be tagged in the labels so you can find more of their writing if you like what you see. And trust me, you WILL like what you see.

Thanks for reading, it's been a super fun 6 months. I'm looking forward to many more!

Amber