Joanna Fortune: I am reluctant to take out the Elf on the Shelf this Christmas

The idea of something that exists to monitor bad behaviour and report back to Santa doesn’t sit well with me

The Elf on the Shelf

Joanna Fortune

CHILD PSYCHOTHERAPIST

My five-year-old daughter was given a present of an ‘Elf on the Shelf’ before Christmas last year. We initially had great fun with it, but I noticed she quickly became anxious about upsetting the elf and kept checking its whereabouts. I explained it was just a toy but it didn’t make much difference to her. She has started to talk about the Elf again, asking if he's coming back. I'm not sure what to do.