Dave Hughes’ terrifying introduction to elf on the shelf for his kids.

Elf on a shelf, huh.

Also known as the bane of many a parent’s existence for the month of December.

The premise of the elf on a shelf is that a little toy elf ~mysteriously~ moves around the house every day, finding his or herself in hilariously compromising situations.

The kids love it. The parents hate it.

Luckily, there are few creative ideas out there.

One such innovator is Dave Hughes, who has shared a hilarious albeit terrifying elf on a shelf idea to Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

The countdown is on at our joint. #elfontheshelf

A post shared by David Hughes (@dhughesy) on Nov 30, 2018 at 11:46am PST

In the image, the elf is pictured on a shelf in the bathroom, holding toothpaste. Below him, written in toothpaste on the bathroom tiles are the words “I’m back, 24 sleeps to go” and oh.

This is very… scary.

So scary that perhaps Hughes’ kids won’t want the little elf to come back.

A parent can dream, can’t they?

Dave and Holly Hughes have three kids, Sadie, Rafferty and Tess.

Check out 24 more ideas for elf on a shelf this December.

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