Kylie Kelce Shares the Low-Maintenance Way She Handles Elf on the Shelf & It’s a Breath of Fresh Air for Busy Moms

Have you seen elaborate Elf on the Shelf displays (i.e., sink water that turns into a pile of sprinkles, elves drawing on kids while they sleep?) and wondered if those types of shenanigans were going on at Kylie and Jason Kelce’s house? Well, the pregnant mom-of-3 addressed this over-the-top holiday tradition — and we have never felt more relieved!

On a recent episode of her Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce (a Wave Original podcast), the field hockey coach got real about elves at her house. Kylie said her and her retired NFL player husband are “the most low-maintenance” when it comes to their daughters’ elf named “M&M-Y” pronounced “Emmy Nemmy.”

“I don’t think our chosen avenue of Elf on the Shelf will be a surprise to anyone,” Kylie said, referencing her family’s laid-back parenting with daughters Wyatt, 5, Elliotte, 3, and Bennett, 19 months. “We are the most low-maintenance Elf on the Shelf family you can find.”

She explained that Emmy Nemmy “shows up on December first” and moves spots most nights. “That’s it,” Kylie continued. “Emmy Nemmy is not leaving notes. She’s not bringing gifts. She’s not doing mischief. She’s not requiring any additional work,” Kylie explained.

“I love the idea of drawing on their face and then leaving Emmy Nemmy with a marker,” Kylie continued. “But the idea of waiting until my kids are in a deep enough sleep and then scheming to get in their room and hoping they don’t wake up, that’s just a commitment I’m not willing to make.” Fair! It’s hard work to do these extra, elaborate scenarios with your kids when moms are already busy making the holidays magical and fun for the whole family.

“The one problem that I have not yet run into is how nervous I am that the kids are going to start comparing notes at school,” she shared. “Because I know that there are other families out there that Elf on the Shelf hard — that their elf is mischievous, that their elf is cooler, that their elf does more, that their elf doesn’t accidentally end up on the same shelf two days in a row.”

We’ve all been there, girl! The best thing is when stuff like that happens to other kids at school, then your kid comes home telling you how sometimes the elf doesn’t move in the morning. That’s good looking out, other parents!

For Kylie, she thought quickly on her feet when it happened to her. “To be fair, the two times that that has happened, it just so happened that it was raining that morning,” she recalled. “And I said, ‘Uh, Wyatt, look outside. The ground is wet. I bet you it was raining last night, and Emmy-Nemmy didn’t wanna get her wings wet.'”

“Lies. That was a lie,” she continued, adding, “I lied through my teeth and I’d do it again, because she bought every second of it. … I did feel a little guilty and I have moved it every morning since the second time I told him that,” she added with a laugh.

“I am nervous for the time where my girls compare notes at school because I’m nervous about the families whose elves bring gifts or other treats and fun things, and then they [will] come home and ask me why Emmy-Nemmy is such a deadbeat elf,” she added. It’s OK, we’re all just doing the best we can (but it helps hearing that other moms struggle with this, too!).

In a previous episode of NGL, Kylie talked about another big part of the holidays: Christmas presents for the kids. She shared the “please don’t buy this for my children’ guide to holiday shopping,” and we love it.

This includes no toys that require more than 5 minutes of assembly; nothing “covered in glitter”; and nothing too loud. “No volume control? Not in my house,” Kylie said, adding that her father-in-law Ed Kelce once gifted her daughter a drumset that could not be turned down. “I could not get it to not be just assaulting everyone’s ears when she was playing with the toy,” Kylie said, adding, “And so, it got retired after a week of living in our house into the bottom cabinet of our built-ins.”

“There’s still a deep amount of guilt associated with the fact that I hid a Christmas gift from my child because I couldn’t stand to listen to that damn thing for one more minute at the volume that it was playing at,” she continued. “I’m so sorry, Ed!”

Kylie’s showing the real side of motherhood, especially during the holidays, and I am obsessed. As a fellow mom-of-3 who does the best I can to make Christmas fun without losing my mind, I love Kylie’s honest and real stories. If it’s good enough for the Kelces, it’s good enough for us!

Before you go, check out how these celebrity parents do — or don’t do — Santa.