It's easy to get caught up in the Christmas feeling, especially with social media showing off other parents showering their kids with dozens of presents each - but it's not normal, says one mum
Alice Sjoberg Social News Reporter
15:33, 26 Dec 2025Updated 15:33, 26 Dec 2025
A mum has been praised for her touching message as she shared a photo of the presents she got her two kids. Every Christmas people across the world share what they got for Christmas, or what they gave to their loved ones, on social media.
While some might find these inspiring, for others it can cause anxiety, particularly for those who see people giving and receiving expensive gifts when they can't afford to do the same.
It's also not uncommon for many to worry about the financial impact of Christmas, with YouGov reporting that a third of Britons say they are fairly worried about the impact of Christmas on their personal finances, with this rising to 42 per cent among people in households with incomes under £30,000. At the same time, 45 per cent of parents say they spend up to £100 per child on Christmas presents, while around half (49 per cent) are spending more.
Since unwrapping presents is something most kids looking forward to during the festive period, it's natural to want them to be as happy as possible. But that doesn't have to mean getting them mountains of presents every year.
This was the message of one mum, Lou Harp, who took to TikTok to share a video of the amount of presents she got her own two kids, as a reminder to other parents that they are doing a great job. "Merry Christmas everyone, it's normal for your kids presents to look like this," she wrote on the overlay text of the video.
In the video, she showed two different piles of presents laying on the sofa, each having about five gifts, with each pile wrapped in a different wrapping paper. Next to the left pile was also a Waterstones bag.
She went on to write in the caption of the post to remind people that this was a 'normal' amount of gifts to give children, rather than having a massive pile under the Christmas tree every year.
"Merry Christmas everyone, just wanted to show what I got my kids for Christmas. The older they get the more expensive the gifts, and this amount of gifts is normla [sic], please know that you are a good Mum," she wrote.
Several people soon took to the comment section to share their thoughts, as many went on to praise Lou for her sweet and important message.
"I'll tell you what I think. Your children will most likely be the children who actually take in what they’ve been given and actually appreciate and play with each present," one person wrote. "It’s about quality not quantity. You’ve done fab!"
Another added: "Well done. This is definitely what it should be like."
"This is so refreshing to see, thank you for sharing. I worried I hadn’t bought enough, but everything is now so expensive as they’re teenagers. If they’re brought up well then this is enough and they’re grateful, Merry Christmas," someone else said.
However, another viewer said: "It's normal for your children, but it's not normal for mine and that's ok, we all have different standards we set and different expectations."
In another comment that seem to criticise the amount of presents, Lou simply replied: "They got everything on their list and loved all they presents. Merry Christmas."