The seemingly innocent Elf on the Shelf phenomenon has started a new round of mommy wars.

Facebook feeds are either jammed with posts from people who spent considerable time cleverly posing their elves, or parent-shaming articles about the elf's creepiness. Blogs howl with anti-elf rants. Instagram and Tumblr are filled with images of not-so-kid-friendly elves.

The elf in question is supposed to be Santa's spy, according to the bestselling children's book that accompanies the toy. He lurks around the house and keeps tabs on children's behavior. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, parents secretly move the elf to a new location each night. Children awake in the morning to find that the elf has done something mischievous, clever or wacky. Parents often share photos of these elf hijinks online.

The backlash: There are plenty of online groups with names like "I Hate My [expletive] Elf on the Shelf!" A photo of a G.I. Joe action figure waterboarding an innocent elf has gone viral. So have pictures of the elf in a hot tub with Barbie.

Beyond the creep factor, some parents are lashing out against the pressure to succumb to another holiday tradition during an already busy time of year.

On the website www.peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat.com, an entry titled "Overachieving Elf on the Shelf Mommies" details the author's frustration with the toy. Jen Mann writes: "Even though my children think he's magic, I'm the one doing all the 'magic' and I totally suck at it. I forget to move him all the time and when I forget I have to spin even more lies than usual."

Still, this elf clearly has a lot of fans who swear by his magical properties to turn kids into well-behaved angels for 25 days. The "Elf on the Shelf Ideas" community page on Facebook has 521,023 likes. The #elfontheshelf hashtag on Instagram has almost a million posts.

"We have a love/hate relationship with our elf," said Leora Smith of Bemidji, Minn. "It is a lot of pressure to remember to move the silly toy every single night. And if we forget? Then we have to make up silly reasons why the elf did not make it back to the North Pole for the night."

Once upon a time, blogger Alice Seuffert admits she scoffed at the elf, too. And then she saw the joy it brought to her friends and their children.

"The parents who set that elf up night after night aren't out of their minds, they don't have too much time on their hands and they certainly don't want you to feel bad about how you parent or how you celebrate Christmas," the St. Paul mother wrote on her blog diningwithalice.com. "They are just looking for a way to find joy with their kids."

Aimee Blanchette • 612-673-1715