The holidays are the best of times and the worst of times. It is fun to see those we love and continue traditions. It is stressful to try to do it all and please everyone, including getting the perfect gifts. Actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore at least does not have to deal with the latter.
Drew revealed in an interview on Entertainment Tonight that she does not give her two daughters — Frankie, age 8, and Olive, age 10 — gifts for Christmas. Don’t worry — Drew is not a neglectful mother; she just would rather focus on experiences instead of material items. She and her daughters go on trips instead.
"I always take them on a trip every Christmas. I don't get them presents, which I think at their ages they don't love, but I say, 'I think we'll remember the place and the photos and the experience and that's what I want to give you,'" Drew revealed to Nischelle Turner.
Drew went on to clarify that the girls do get gifts and presents at other times during the year. She isn’t some mean mother.
"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,” Drew explained.
She went on to say, "I'd rather invest [in that than in] a doll house or something. It all evens out and it's fine." Memories are priceless, after all.
Drew is not so rooted in her ways that she cannot change when the situation calls for it. She did give the girls presents during the height of the pandemic when they were unable to travel safely. She does not believe in being dogmatic just for the sake of keeping tradition alive.
Drew knows that the only thing that is constant is 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 mused. Holiday traditions can be flexible.
Drew added, “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.'" This sounds like a healthy outlook.
Drew shares her daughters with ex-husband Will Kopelman. In the same interview, she revealed she has begun dating again this holiday season. She says it "feels good” to be doing so.
"I kind of shuttered down for a while. I take breaks and then I'm like, 'You know what? I'm ready to try this again,'" she disclosed. "You have on and off seasons. I feel like I'm having an on season."
There is one man who has Drew feeling "hopeful and optimistic. There's been a second and a third [date] with someone, which is a big deal," Drew said. Maybe Drew’s gift this year will be a new relationship.
