In my house, Father Christmas is real. So is the Elf on the Shelf – it’s a new addition to our festive make-believe world this year. It hangs on the bannisters, or off the side of the bunk bed looking cheeky with its hands stuck together with Velcro. I have to secretly move it every night to a new location, or else my children complain that “it’s not doing anything”.
Six-year-old Liberty, though, has been getting suspicious lately. When she saw an identical elf in our local supermarket, I could see her begin to question it. And I have my own suspicions that Lola, eight, already knows the truth despite her claims otherwise – some of her friends, at least, definitely know Santa and the elf aren’t real. I say nothing, of course, even if it makes me feel uncomfortable. But now I’m questioning the whole thing: new research claims lying to our children about Santa – and presumably the elf – is a form of bad parenting.
