Christmas is nearly upon us and I am starting to feel a bit festive after putting up the tree as well as our indoor and outdoor lights. 

There is one decoration that is becoming more common in households up and down the country – Elf on the Shelf. 

If you have not heard of this, it is an elf toy that comes with a keepsake box and illustrated storybook. 

The book is about how a group of elves are getting ready for Christmas Day and visit children’s houses from the North Pole to check who will go on Santa’s good list and naughty list. 

To make the story believable, parents have to move the elf to different parts of the house every night so it is in a different position every morning. 

I know a lot of parents do this and many children love it. 

But I think the Elf of the Shelf tradition sounds awful and stressful and I refuse to do it

for my two children. 

It started in 2005 in America and was brought over to the UK in 2013 and I just see it as a money-making scheme, which is frankly unnecessary. 

My children are excited enough about Christmas with their advent calendar and the tree lights so the added element of a moving elf would tip them over the edge. 

There is also the added pressure on parents to think of inventive ways to display the elf throughout December. 

It costs money to buy the horrible creature, which in a cost of living crisis is not great and I worry about how it could stress children out if they are always thinking about if they are being naughty or well-behaved. 

The worst thing is, once you start doing Elf on a Shelf you cannot stop it for many years because youngsters expect it. 

I think the best thing to do is leave it off the shelf and in the box.