‘It made me feel sick’: Stacey Solomon reveals why she told her family not to buy her kids gifts

The Sort Your Life Out presenter revealed in an interview that she’s set boundaries for family members in terms of gifts for her children.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Sort Your Life Out presenter and mum of four (soon to be five) Stacey Solomon has revealed that she has requested no one buys gifts for her kids after watching them unwrap presents  on Christmas Day. The 33 year old spoke to Huffington Post UK, claiming that she felt her kids at the time were taking their gifts for granted.

“I remember one Christmas – and this was the turning point for me – my family all got the kids different Superman and Spiderman [toys]. This was before I had Rex, before I’d even met Joe (Swash - her husband),” she explained. “The kids were opening toys and just moving that toy to the side, and then opening the next one – and there was not even a reaction to what they were seeing and getting. It made me feel sick.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I was like: they don’t even know what they’re getting. I’ve never opened a present and not been like: ‘Oh my god, this is amazing,’ and been really excited. I just remember saying from then on, ‘Please I don’t want presents for them. Take them out, take them for an experience, put money in their bank accounts, whatever.’”

“I don’t want crap. I don’t want it in the house. I don’t want them being bombarded by loads of stuff that doesn’t make them feel good about themselves, that they don’t appreciate it. It just made me feel awful.”

Solomon feels that by setting boundaries, it allows her children a greater sense of gratitude for the gifts they receive, rather than cluttering her immaculate home up with plastic toys - as demonstrated by her series of Instagram posts providing helpful cleaning tips.

“It’s very British of us to be like: oh no, I can’t tell someone what to get my child for their birthday or Christmas and I can’t say I don’t want that garish, giant tent they’re going to bring round or whatever. But you absolutely can.”

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.