This Christmas kids are ditching the letters to Santa for slideshows and presentations

The Christmas month has officially begun and ‘tis the time to buy the presents, wrap them up and place them under the tree while Santa undertakes his arduous journey beginning from the North Pole. As the world moves forward to a more technologically dependent and advanced life, so is the holiday season becoming heavily infused with technology and its ways. A classic example of this infusion is the replacement of “Letters to Santa” with PowerPoint presentations and slideshows. TikTok has witnessed a wide range of videos showcasing children pitching well-prepared and detailed presentations to their parents about their list of gifts which they expect them to gift on behalf of Santa. The videos are making the internet laugh about how children’s minds are almost always unbeatable and their curiosities are through the roof.

A video posted by The Pease Family—who go by @thepeasefamily on TikTok—shows their daughter presenting her 2023 Christmas gift list on a television in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. The entire family can be seen sitting cozily on the couch to watch the presentation. Her first request was for a gigantic cat that she wanted, even though her father pointed out that they already had a cat. The daughter then moved on to her second demand which was a headset and next was a panini maker which made the mother laugh out. The father was curious to know if “they get any of the sandwiches” that would be prepared in the panini maker and the daughter responded in full agreement.

The daughter’s next demand was a simple one “12 Jolly Rancher candy canes” which was also funny to the parents as they laughed but not as much as their daughter did when she presented her next wish “a Grinch costume”. The first time that the mother asked a demand to be “skipped” was for slime. Even though the daughter tried to reassure her that it was a “different kind of slime” the mother was adamant and said, "There’ll be no slime in this house." The daughter sweetly skipped to the next wish which was again a costume but this time, it was the extinct species of dinosaurs. She then kindly ended the presentation and concluded by saying, “Okay, that’s my 2023 Christmas wish list.”

Another similar video was posted by Rebecca—who goes by @becca_dear on TikTok—which shows their daughter’s presentation playing on the television, titled “Autumn’s Christmas Wishlist 2023." The beginning of her presentation is the sweetest with a disclaimer that read, “Please don’t get mad at me. I get good grades. I do not expect all of this, hence the WISHlist.” She then begins with her first wish, a pair of shorts and T-shirt. Even though the video only captures her first wish, the way the girl innocently presented everything while keeping her expectations to the ground, really made the video wholesome to watch.

A similar video, but involving a college girl, was posted by Elisabeth Lerch—who goes by @elisabethlerch on TikTok—titled, “My sister came home from college just to show our parents her Christmas present slideshow.” The brief video shows the sister’s wishlist of a new pair of shoes while their pet dogs are least interested in the wishlist and more so in indulging in a game on the carpet titled, “The dogs are over it.” The videos garnered great comments from TikTok users. In the video with the college girl, @moltenlava2222 said, “I would respond with a slide show demonstrating college expenses and say Merry Christmas.” @texoma25 chimed in with this hilarious take on the slideshows saying, “So encouraging. I’m moving forward with my slideshow for my parents regarding their trust and real estate before my sister gets any ideas.”

Looks like letters have already been replaced by emails but now the tradition of writing letters to Santa, for the sake of tradition, will soon be replaced by audio and visual wishlists. They do bring an edge with them and it’s probably time to accept that these are the children of the digital age.