This was perpetuated by our kids' school and our kids actually explained the rules to us. It made me extremely uncomfortable. It has a certain "presence" about

This was perpetuated by our kids' school and our kids actually explained the rules to us. It made me extremely uncomfortable. It has a certain "presence" about it that is tied to the story of its supposed purpose. I find that it absolutely brings this strange feeling of opening your home to an outside influence. That description is somewhat vague, but the feeling is absolutely real and visceral. So, there is the authoritarian component. Beyond that, I didn't like the idea of this little thing intruding on our responsibility as parents and, to some extent, usurping our authority by presuming to share it. It is odd to defer to this silly little Elf. We don't need an Elf to help us raise our kids, thank you very much. I'm also not a big Santa fan for this and other reasons. So, in some ways, this thing is conditioning parents as well. We have been "put upon" by our school to continue this, which lends a subtle pressure to conform to societal norms, no matter how new or questionable. And, in this case, that norm is to defer to some outside authority, with whom we are completely unfamiliar. All of this is made even worse by the fact that it is the product of one person's imagination, and was meant for commercial gain.