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Family

Drew Barrymore explains why she opts for experiences instead of Christmas gifts for her kids

'I just feel like a better gift would be a life memory.'

drew barrymore, drew barrymore show, christmas gifts

Drew Barrymore's kids don't expect to see presents underneath the tree.

Christmas time is here again, and along with it can come the stress of purchasing gifts. This probably goes double for parents with young children. Whether it’s the latest toy, tech or item of clothing, there’s an overwhelming amount of stuff that people can be pressured to purchase to see faces of their loved ones light up.

However, actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore would argue that perhaps what’s more important than physical gifts during the holiday season is creating lasting memories.

In an exclusive interview with ET, Barrymore shared a fairly unconventional Christmas tradition—rather than spotting Christmas gifts under the tree, her two daughters (Frankie, 8, and Olive, 10) go on a trip every year.

Barrymore admitted that at their age, not getting presents was a bit of a hard sell. But she continued to affirm the importance of her decision, telling them, “I think we'll remember the place and the photos and the experience and that's what I want to give you.”

She also clarified with ET that "they get plenty of things throughout the year, so I'm not like some weird, strict, cold mom who's like, 'You don’t get any gifts!' I just feel like a better gift would be a life memory. I'd rather invest [in that than in] a doll house or something. It all evens out and it's fine."

There’s no rigidity in the plan—over the pandemic when travel restrictions were at an all-time high, Barrymore did offer Christmas gifts. And unprecedented global events notwithstanding, she still prefers to keep things open to change.

"[I try] to remember that one holiday won't be probably the same as one 10 years from now, that your life can dramatically change, and new people and new traditions can come into it," she said. "I like looking at the holidays through a comedic, realistic lens of, ‘we're gonna have a lot of different holiday stories. What one do you want to keep going and build as a tradition?’ Rather than, 'this is my tradition and I'm stuck in it.'"

Obviously, for many people, buying trips is even less financially feasible than buying presents. But the real point that’s illuminated through this story is that focusing on experiences can be just as rewarding (and many times more rewarding) than getting stuff. The pressure to spend money during the holidays is real, but what’s more important is making memories with the people who matter most. Especially in our modern world where everything moves at a mile a minute and carving out quality time is a difficult task. Luckily, that doesn’t have to cost a penny.

Even people who are extensively wealthy are choosing to invest in Christmas differently. Recently a successful CEO made headlines for sharing that she only gives her children one gift each year, and uses the rest of the money to provide gifts to other kids who might go without a gift. Odds are, those kids will remember learning how to embody kindness and generosity long after the shiny newness of whatever gift they got has faded.

It can be hard to not feel as though Christmas gifts will somehow make the day feel more Hallmark Channel-worthy. But it’s true that presence is a precious gift unto itself, and simply being there with loved ones might be all it takes to get that warm, fuzzy Christmas feeling.

via @5kids5catssomedogstoo/TikTok

Lynalice Bandy shares what her home looks like after working six 10-hour days and getting no help from her husband.

A viral TikTok video highlights an extreme version of inequality that many wives and mothers in heterosexual relationships face. However, the mom in this story hit her limit and won’t deal with it anymore.

Lynalice Bandy, who goes by @5kids5catssomedogstoo on TikTok, posted a video that showed her home looking like a disaster after she worked six 10-hour days straight while her husband did nothing to help.

Her time-lapse video shows every room in the house completely trashed, with toys, food and laundry scattered everywhere. "Shampoo on the carpets in the girls' room, nail polish all over Nugget covers, hair, and carpet. Scissors were used to cut hair, the down comforter, the mattress cover, and two Nugget covers," wrote the mom.

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Pop Culture

The last surviving witness to Lincoln’s assassination lived long enough to share his story on TV

Samuel J. Seymour was 95 years old when he appeared on “I’ve Got a Secret.”

Samuel J. Seymour witnessed the assassination of President Lincoln.

Samuel J. Seymour was one of the approximately 1,700 people at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865, the night President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. He was also the last to live long enough to talk about that historic night on television.

Seymour was 5 years old when he went to see the play “Our American Cousin” with his nurse, Sarah Cook, and Mrs. Goldsboro, the wife of his father's employer.

When Booth shot Lincoln, he pulled the trigger during the biggest laugh of the night so that it wouldn’t be heard. What caught Seymour’s attention was when Booth fell from the balcony after a scuffle with Henry Reed Rathbone.

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Pop Culture

Tense video shows a woman filming herself after sensing a man following her. She was right.

“See this gentleman behind me? Yeah, this is what this video’s about.”

@lacie_kraatz/TikTok

Lacie films as the mysterious man visibly gets closer.

It’s no secret that even the most seemingly safe of public places can instantly turn dangerous for a woman. Is it fair? No. But is it common? Absolutely, to the point where more and more women are documenting moments of being stalked or harassed as a grim reminder to be aware of one’s surroundings.

Lacie (@lacie_kraatz) is one of those women. On April 11th, she was out on a run when she noticed a man in front of her displaying suspicious behavior. Things got especially dicey when the man somehow got behind her. That’s when she pulled out her phone and started filming—partially to prove that it wasn’t just her imagination, and also out of fear for her safety.

“Hello. I’m just making this video so that women are a little more aware of them,” she begins in the video. “See this gentleman behind me? Yeah, this is what this video’s about.”

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Parents are debating over whether to give children "adult" or "baby" names.

The names we choose to give our children can significantly impact their lives. Multiple studies from across the globe have found that a person’s name can influence their employment, social and economic outcomes.

Unfortunately, humans make snap judgments about one another, and having an unusual name can lead people to make unflattering assumptions. “We’re hardwired to try to figure out in a heartbeat whether or not we want to trust somebody, whether we want to run from somebody,” Northwestern University researcher David Figlio said, according to Live Science.

However, an increasing number of parents are giving their children non-traditional names to help them stand out. “Parents are trying to be original, almost branding their kids in an era where names are viewed on the same level as Twitter handles or a website URL,” writer Sabrina Rogers-Anderson said.

Ruby, a mother on TikTok, took a hard stance on parents giving their children names that sound childish in a post that’s received over 11 million views. Ruby says she named her kids as “adults, not babies” hoping they would never “outgrow” their names.

@rubyyvillarreal

#stitch with @nikkiruble love having nicknames as they are younger and it doesnt mean they will perfer it over their name as they get older. Just gives them options 🤷🏻‍♀️ #nicknames #babynames #babytok #adultnames #pregnancytiktok #toddlersoftiktok #momtok #momlife #babynames #babyname

“The whole concept when I was trying to look for a name and choose a name for her is I did not want her to outgrow her name,” she said in the viral video. “I wanted the name to fit her as a baby, as a toddler, as a child, and into adulthood. So, it's like I really am happy with what I ended up with naming her and it just fits her so well.”

She captioned the video, “love having nicknames as they are younger and it doesn’t mean they will prefer it over their name as they get older. Just gives them options.”

People in the comments responded with modern names they think that kids will outgrow.

"My name is Koazy and I’m here for a job interview," Stalker joked. "Hello sir, I am Bluey Mason Garrison! I was called in for a job interview last Tuesday," Pastel Purr added.

"I can’t imagine knowing [a] 30-year-old named Emma or Posie," Mikey wrote.

However, a lot of people commented that names that seem like they’ll be outgrown will sound fine in the future when those names are popular with the new generation. “Kids grow up with their generation having their own names on trend. They will be normal adult names when they are grown,” Kerry wrote.

“Names grow with the generation,” Lauren added. “The name Dennis sounded like a baby name once too. Names grow up just like generations.”

@rubyyvillarreal

Replying to @19eighty_5 my kids name and the process 😬 #babynames #nicknames #babytok #adultnames #momsoftiktok #momlife #momtok #pregnancytiktok #toddlersoftiktok #babyname #babyfever

In a follow-up video, Ruby shared the names she gave her children. Her girl is named Karla Esmerelda and her boy is called Deluca.

“I just really liked how simple, how bold, and strong that the name by itself just really kind of is. Doing some research names with the letter K tend to be like very bold and powerful names, so I really wanted it with a K and not with a C,” she said.

She named her son Deluca, after a doctor on “Grey’s Anatomy.” She said she chose the name because there was nothing to connect it to, and it sounded “nice.”







Joy

Two friends met for the first time when one was freed after being wrongfully convicted

They've been pen pals for over two decades and finally got to see each other face to face.

Wrongfully convicted man meets long-time penpal.

Having a pen pal can be really rewarding. In the early 90s, when letter writing was still a required learning objective and classes got to have penpals from another school, it was exciting to build a connection with someone through writing letters. But for most of us, that practice died off as we started making those lasting connections through social media.

But when Ginny Schrappen got word from her church's deacon that a prisoner wanted a pen pal more than two decades ago, before social media was a thing, she stepped up to volunteer. According to CBS Evening News, Lamar Johnson wrote to Schrappen's church hoping that one of the parishioners would write to him while he was in prison.

Others may have been turned off due to the crime for which Johnson was imprisoned, which was murder. But Schrappen figured, "He's not going to come and get me."

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@lookgoodinphotos/TikTok

Millennials, this is gonna hurt.

As anyone born after 1997 can attest, taking photos feels awkward. Unless you’re a professional model, it’s nigh on impossible to nail a pose and facial expression that isn’t completely cringey—and even harder to not get stuck in the same pose and facial expression that seemed to work once upon a time over and over again.

That’s with a traditional photography setup. Now, with most pictures being taken with our camera phones, there’s the additional variable of having to find the perfect angle ourselves. It’s all a recipe for tragic, embarrassing disaster, I tell you.

However, scroll through any Gen Zer’s social media and you’ll see a treasure trove of effortlessly cool and candid selfies. Sure, the cynic might say it’s purely the use of filters that makes their images look that way, but there’s more to it than that. And posing expert Christine Buzan has the perfect explanation.
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