As Christmas approaches, we see a lot of talk about Santa Claus. The jolly man in the red suit is a huge part of the holiday season. Children worldwide look forward to his annual visit. Only some families, however, incorporate Santa into their celebrations, and others have their own traditions. TikTok mom Mercedes Lynn, who posts as @mercedeslynnnn8, has eight kids. Their family doesn’t do Santa Claus, and that’s fine with her.
The family enjoys the holiday and exchanging gifts, but Lynn keeps it simple. She made a now-viral TikTok video about her family’s celebration, and it got a lot of people talking.
More From CafeMom: My House Is Filled With Black Santas as a Foster Mom – Here’s Why
Lynn’s children each get the same number of gifts.
She explained in her TikTok that her family celebrates Christmas over two days. On Christmas Eve, each child opens four gifts. “They get one new book, one new outfit, and two presents that are just fun things – either a toy, a game, something fun that they wanted,” she shared. The next day, they open their stockings.
Their biggest gift comes on Christmas morning.
She uses a tradition from her childhood that she loves.
“Christmas Day they get to open what’s in their stockings, and at the bottom of their stocking there will be a small little piece of wrapping paper. And then they take that piece of wrapping paper and match it to a present under the tree because they each get one present on Christmas morning,” she said.
Lynn explained this keeps things organized and reduces chaos on Christmas morning. She added that their Christmas morning gift isn’t necessarily the most expensive but is something they really want.
The family did Santa years ago but has since changed the focus of Christmas.
Lynn told People that she and her husband did Santa Claus when her oldest kids were young, but it became too much.
“We used to do Santa when my oldest few kids were little, but as they grew, and we had more kids, we just felt convicted about trying to keep up the lie,” Lynn said. “We would lie, and then we would have to lie again to cover up that lie. It put us in a bad position, and as Christians, we wanted to make sure our kids had the right focus.”
More from CafeMom: People Want Parents To Stop Saying Expensive Gifts Are From Santa & It’s Getting Heated
Her TikTok got mixed reactions.
Some hated the idea, such as this person who wrote, “Lost me at no Santa…I believed in Santa until I was 12 and we only opened presents on Christmas Day.”
And this one who commented, “Life is hard. I say believe in Santa for as long as you can, he’s part of the magic of Christmas.” This person agreed, writing, “Too many rules and regulations!”
But some TikTokers loved it.
One person wrote, “i can definitely understand this, kids just don’t need a million of toys for Christmas.”
“I like that. Christmas is to commercialized,” another fan added.
To each their own. As long as no one ruins anyone else’s fun, every family should enjoy Christmas the way that works best for them.
