Am I Doing Elf On The Shelf Wrong?

We have an Elf on the Shelf.

It freaks me out.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing it wrong as I browse other blog posts or Pinterest.

For instance, most return letters are sweet:

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Ours was like this:

A lot of people have their elf doing cute stuff:

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Our elf does stuff like this:

More cutesy ideas:

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(Is that paint? Too messy! Too messy! We prefer easy stuff! And sometimes Elf on the Shelf ideas are listed as easy, and it's like 4 steps. No thanks, guys. Not easy. Easy is sticking the dang elf on the Christmas tree, thanks.)

Meanwhile, our Elf is all:

Cutesy non-easy idea because you have to get crap set up:

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Our elf:

Most fanatical elf people have a toy on each blade with the underwear neatly fluffed. After two, my arms hurt, I nearly fell over and broke my neck, so I was like, "Done." 

Oh, and we can touch our elf:

I posted this online and you'd think I shared a photo of the guy who played Mini Me in the Austin Powers movies streaking or something. People were beside themselves and were like, "She's TOUCHING THE ELF?" Um, yes. 

There are all sorts of things online about how to rescue an elf that has been touched. I am not joking. There are recovery letters. Recovery. Letters. I'm all for giving a kid magic, but that's pushing it for me. 

So yes, while we do the elf, we do it in an easy way.

(Really easy. Not fake 4-steps-to-complete easy.)


Do you have an Elf On The Shelf?