If you’re a parent that has mistakenly gone down the Elf On The Shelf path, I’m sure you’ve been in the situation where youve had a glass of six of wine and gone to bed forgetting to move the little bastard. Then to be woken up to the disappointment of your little crotch goblins wondering why the elf didn’t move. I’ve come up with a solution that hasn’t failed me yet.

Now, I know this exact solution won’t apply to everyone, but it should at least get your years grinding on how you can use your smart home to remind you to move it.

I have an Inovelli wall switch that the LED light on it can be used as a notification in my bedroom. In my case, at 9pm every night, it goes to full brightness and flashes red…it’s pretty bright, I can’t miss it. This is my reminder to move the elf. Once I do, I clear the notification and it goes back to normal.

    • Majestic_Dildocorn@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      We started with “We don’t allow Fae in the house, not after what happened last time” with the tooth fairy. It keeps going with that stupid elf.

    • orangeflos@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      I’m sure there’s some quantity of money which would convince me to buy that thing. I’m also sure it’s very very large.

      Elf on the shelf: hard pass.

    • forceblast@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      My wife made this mistake for us. (Getting the elves)

      I love her but I am now considering divorce.

      (Kidding about the divorce part … mostly.)

      🤣

    • cosmicsans@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      When my kids asked why we don’t have an elf on the shelf I told them because Santa trusts me and I can just write him and he’ll know what’s up, Santa doesn’t trust the other kids parents and needs to send the elf

  • zrail@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    “Sorry kids, the elf had to leave. Their home planet needed them.”

    • benthom@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Now I’m going to have to seek out a story of a kid who took some black tread and gave their elf a new line of stitches each night after their parents went to bed. It has to have happened somewhere.

  • smarthomepursuits@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    I would go one step further. Otherwise, it flashes red whether you or you SO already moved it.

    Scan NFC tag once elf is moved (or smart button press) to toggle an Input boolean. If I put Boolean is ON, then it won’t flash red that night. Then create an automation to reset it to off the next day.

    • JAP42@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Go a step further and put the NFC in the elf. Scan when you move and an save a location to a database.

  • PuzzlingDad@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    I used to have a similar automation for putting the garbage cans out the night before and bringing them back in the next evening. I was even planning to add sensors to the cans to verify if they had been moved or not.

    Then I switched to a pair of recurring alarms on my phone and found it was easier to deal with. If I decided one day to put them out or bring them in earlier, I just swiped down and dismissed the alarm.

    • BreakfastBeerz@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      I started with a phone alarm. But when I’m in the kitchen, or at a friend’s house, or pretty much anywhere, or my kids are still awake, I have to silence the alarm at 9:00, I can’t just let it continue going off until I have a chance to move it. If I silence it, then if it’s 3 hours later I go to bed, I’ll have forgotten about it. A phone alarm simply didn’t work.

      • TK421isAFK@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        So set it for a time that’s after your kids go to bed, but before you typically do?

        What the hell good does a flashing red light in your bedroom do if you’re commiserating over a few beers at your friend’s house?

        Set 2 or 3 alarms on your phone, if need be.

        Fuck, this post is almost as bad as /r/AskElectronics when someone asks how to replace a simple switch on a kid’s flashlight, and a dozen new-grad EE’s come up with Arduino and Raspberry Pi “solutions” to a broken wire on a slide switch.

        • FRIENDLY_CANADIAN@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          It stays red…until he resets it… it’s a better solution.

          He can be at his buddies place, it turns red, he forgets but when he gets home before bed, it reminds him.

          If an alarm goes off when he’s at his buddies he turns it off and forgets.

          It’s not that hard to understand the difference. Calm down.

        • XavinNydek@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          I’m pretty sure their point is, the light will still be flashing whenever it is they get to bed. Alarms have to be actively managed, that light’s just going to keep flashing harmlessly until it’s dealt with.

  • interrogumption@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    “Hey google, remind me every night at 9pm to move that god damn elf on the shelf”

    Kids, later: “Dad, why does that google screen in the kitchen say ‘move that god damn elf on the shelf’?”

  • MrSnowden@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    I came for fully automated and sentient elf that gets up and moved itself. Not a phone reminder implemented through light switches.