Savannah Guthrie Says She Didn't Put the Elf on Shelf as Her Children Decorate a Christmas Tree

“Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie has joined many celebrities who’ve put up their Christmas trees. However, the star’s decorations came with a very interesting twist.

According to some Christian traditions, "The Elf on the Shelf" is a pixie in a storybook. It’s a scout that sits on the shelf or other spot in the house where he can watch how children behave during the holiday season.

Every night, the elf flies to the North Pole to report to Santa Claus on the children’s behavior. That’s how children end up on the naughty or good list depending on how they’ve behaved.

The elf makes sure to fly back before the children wake up but it settles on a new part of the house every time. In essence, it becomes a game of hide-and-seek for the children each morning.

The tradition has been quite controversial with some feeling it was an invasive tactic and others thinking it’s harmless fun. On Tuesday, Savannah Guthrie took to Instagram to share photos of her children decorating their Christmas tree.

In the first image, the “Today” show co-host’s children daughter Vale, 3, and their son Charley, 1, were seen decorating the tree. The second and third images were pretty much the same thing, with Charley picking something off the floor.

However, the fourth picture showed the two children drinking chocolate milk as a treat. The fifth photo included an elf shown sitting on a counter while embracing a Grey Goose bottle.

The little guy had a naughty look on his face as he looked to the side. In the caption of the post, Guthrie explained that she was now celebrating the season with cold hot chocolate and broken ornaments.

The 75-foot-tall Norway Spruce looked quite bare and battered with missing branches.

She also noted how the season also came with overcrowded low hanging branches. The co-host also mentioned how the holidays also featured Christmas music and lots of joy as well.

Guthrie, 45, who is married to Mike Feldman, 49, also addressed the sneaky little elf in her fifth photo. Wanting to avoid the controversy that came with the decoration, she jokingly confessed:

“I didn’t really put the elf on the shelf there but I considered it.”

A fan found the reference to the elf to be quite hilarious. Choosing not to go with any negativity but to lighten things up even more the follower replied to the post by joking:

"Even the elf has had enough of 2020.”

In December 2017, Guthrie’s family celebrated Christmas Day in matching pajamas. The “Today” anchor and her family all wore red and white pajamas with Feldman choosing to add a red top as well.

Now let's address the 2020 Rockefeller Christmas tree that was recently put up and received a lot of online criticism. The 75-foot-tall Norway Spruce looked quite bare and battered with missing branches.

Guthrie shared the post of the tree with her followers and praised the tree only to get a lot of backlash. On the “Today” show, she and co-host Hoda Kotb defended the tree by calling it beautiful.

Guthrie even joked that the tree was having a bad hair day and noted how this was an issue that she and Kotb have faced in the past. Her co-host couldn’t help but agree with her analysis.