I knew going into parenthood that there would be many topics that people loved to debate: breastfeeding vs formula, disposable diapers vs cloth, crib training vs co-sleeping, etc. The list is honestly endless of the things I knew internet moms loved to argue about. There's a million arguments for each and all in all, those topics are definitely beaten to death.
But there's two topics that I never saw coming. Like....ever. I never knew people could hate these two things so much and actually love to post so much about their hatred of them.
1). Minivans.
I never thought at 25 I would be driving a minivan. I never thought I would actually love sliding doors as much as I do. And truthfully, those doors are 99% the reason I love what I drive as much as I do. You can find DVD players in a lot of other vehicles and you can find pretty dashboards with screens in so many other vehicles too. But no other vehicle has those beautiful sliding doors. With five young kids, those sliding doors have saved me thousands of dollars in repairs when you think about how many beautiful cars parked next to us in parking lots avoided the door slam coming their way when my kids fling open regular swinging doors. You're welcome, society. You're welcome, bank account!
And people LOVE to hate minivans. I guess I'm the only one driving down the road that doesn't think about what my car looks like to others around me. Plus I guess I'm also the only person who doesn't really notice what other people are driving down the road either. I honestly just don't understand the hate people have for one specific vehicle! Manufacturers are definitely stepping up their game in how minivans look now. They're not as ugly as they used to be. But again, I don't even notice what the outside of my car looks like when I'm sitting inside of it driving.
There's a million different articles out there on why moms love minivans. If they started making Yukons or Tahoes with sliding doors, I'd sign up so fast for those. I WANT 4 wheel drive that also has 8 passenger seats! My perfect car would be a Yukon XL with 4 wheel drive and sliding doors. I want to be able to drive my car through the snow with no issues. But manufacturers seem to believe that SUV's don't deserve those sliding doors too. I'm here to tell you that a lot of us would love a Yukon with sliding doors.
So anyways, I'll never understand how this vehicle can be debated as hard as it is. But alas, any topic can definitely be argued to death. It just makes me laugh every time I see someone post about it. There's no shame in my minivan game. I think moms with a lot of really young kids are really the only ones who understand the whole minivan thing anyways.
2). Elf On The Shelf
People LOVE to hate this thing. And I mean they LOVE to hate it. Every year around this time, the statuses and articles about why it's so awful start popping up on my newsfeed. A quick Google search will bring up hundreds of articles on why people despise it.
Here's a little secret: those of us who participate in the Elf don't LOVE this thing either. It's not like we're super thrilled about having to hide this thing every night.
So why do I participate? Why do I do it?
Because it's fun for my kids. Childhood goes so extremely fast as it is. I like having things that make Christmas seem more magical. We don't have many years left of our oldest believing so I try to hold onto these really precious years. This is the stuff I will look back on and miss so much...my kids looking for their elf every morning and believing she can talk to Santa for them. I'll miss my kids barely being able to sleep on Christmas Eve because they want so badly to catch Santa downstairs. So a few years of me having to play slave to this little thing for 24 days is worth it in my opinion. It just adds a little extra pizzazz to the holidays for us.
Some elves are naughty but ours just plays hide and go seek. The kids give her letters to take back to Santa with what they're asking for, or to tell him about something that happened in their lives. We don't treat our elf as a tattle-tale. We just treat her as a direct line to be able to get messages to Santa. I'll even catch the kids talking to her and confiding in her. They see her more as a safe zone than someone they should fear ("because she will tell Santa how bad they are" type thing).
If you hate the elf, then you hate the elf. It's just one of those parenting topics I never thought people could get so passionate about. I really do love to hate our elf too since she really is a pain to keep moving! But again, the kids really adore her. So we keep her around.
If you do participate in Elf on the Shelf, I'd love to hear how you handle yours in your own home! Does it do naughty things? Do you Pinterest ideas?
If you loathe the elf and will never participate, what's your major reason why? I'm totally curious to hear different views on that.
Hopefully you're all getting ready for Christmas! Can you believe tomorrow is December?
xoxo,
