Mom tells kids expensive Christmas gifts are from her, not Santa and there's a humble reason behind it

With Christmas right around the corner, many parents have started preparing gifts they want their kids to believe are from Santa. However, former teacher and mom, Stefanny Alecon (@stefannyalecon), has a different approach to celebrating Christmas with her kids. Through a video shared on TikTok last year, Alecon shared that she did not want her kids to know that "all of our big presents are from Santa." While the video might initially seem like a critique of Santa’s unearned credit, it ultimately delivered a powerful message about honest and authentic parenting. 

"We are not telling our kids that all of our big presents are from Santa. Big gifts come from mom and dad, small gifts come from Santa because life is hard. Life is expensive. And I don’t want my kids to be like, ‘Santa brought me a bunk bed!’ and then Santa brought the kid next door socks, or a ball or you know like something small because that’s all they could afford. So big expensive gifts come from Mom and Dad and small gifts come from Santa. Hopefully, this works out this year," Alecon explained. The caption of the video read, "This way no one has beef with the big man in red."

Talking to TODAY, Alecon said, "I am trying to foster humbleness and appreciation." She shared that post-Christmas conversations with the kids in her class made her think about inequity. She said, "I was very mindful of these conversations when I was teaching because I understood economics within my classroom. When it came up, I’d say, ‘You’re so lucky that Santa brought you a basketball!’ It’s hyping up the little things so they feel it because I knew that some kids got ‘better’ gifts, though it’s all perspective.” Beyond addressing gift inequality, the woman also spoke about how this particular method can be a powerful parenting tool. She explained that parents can use gift tags to recognize their children's achievements and efforts. Alecon said "Mommy and Daddy got you this because we've seen you do well in X, Y and Z and this is how we are rewarding you. It can acknowledge something hard for them and that they're working toward. For one of my kids, it's learning how to read."

According to Alecon, all expensive gifts like bikes, remote-control cars or big-box items that cost more than $100 are labeled as being from Mom and Dad. Meanwhile, smaller, inexpensive gifts like books, chess boards or small LEGO sets are attributed to Santa. To further differentiate, each set of Christmas gifts in her household is wrapped in distinct paper.

The video gained a lot of popularity online with several people appreciating the mom for teaching her kids valuable life lessons from a young age. @ericalpaich who also follows a similar Christmas celebration custom, wrote, "We do the same. As they get older and ask for technology it’s easier to explain that Santa won’t bring you a phone because he doesn’t bring electronics or big gifts." @ayy.envy commented, "Girl same! But the reason is more because ain’t nobody else getting credit for the expensive stuff but us lol." Similarly, @misskaylasimone understood the great message behind the idea and wrote, "Absolutely! We don’t want them talking about this at school and possibly hurting another kid's feelings." @uniquely.awoken wrote, "Love this! This makes so much sense."

You can follow Stefanny Alecon (@stefannyalecon) on TikTok for more parenting content.