Drew Barrymore Says She Doesn’t Get Her Daughters Christmas Gifts, And They “Don’t Love” It
Ebenezer Scrooge, thy name is Drew Barrymore! In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Drew revealed that she doesn’t get her daughters gifts for Christmas. Instead, she prefers to take them on an annual holiday trip. Even though Drew says 10-year-old Olive and 8-year-old Frankie are at an age where they “don’t love” this unorthodox tradition, she believes the girls will remember a family trip more than some toys under a tree. She makes a good point. I have vivid memories of getting into screaming matches with my father on our family road trip through the Rockies (he never wanted to stop at McDonald’s), but the only Christmas gifts I can remember receiving were Leonard Maltin’s yearly movie review guides.
Drew tells ET Online:
“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,'” she explained. “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.”
Drew explains that she gave her girls Christmas gifts one year during the pandemic when they couldn’t travel due to COVID. But she realized she was “fine to skip this. This sucks.” Especially because, with a trip, Frankie and Olive can’t complain about not liking what they get. Drew’s “no gifts allowed” beliefs stem from her not-so-great childhood. On her show last year, she told Ross Matthews that her stage mom, Jaid Barrymore, never gave her Christmas presents. Baby Drew had to buy them herself with her own money:
I’m not good at the gifting. I wasn’t brought up that way. I didn’t have trees, we didn’t do that ceremony. I spent every holiday alone, I was a little confused by them. So, I’ve tried to make the traditions my own untraditional traditions. So I just say, I want us to have a memory at Christmas.
Here’s the 2021 clip. The gift stuff begins around the minute mark:
Drew co-parents her daughters with ex-husband Will Kopelman. Will is Jewish, so it’s unlikely Frankie and Olive are getting Christmas presents on their dad’s side, either. Damn, I hope these girls are eventually showered with cash and gifts at their bat mitzvahs. Deprive them of material possessions for too long, and they’ll rebel! Next thing ya know, they’re partying at the Limelight with Billy Idol:
Drew Barrymore & Billy Idol, 1986. pic.twitter.com/OnJvixayiJ
— MUBI Brasil (@mubibrasil) September 9, 2022
Pic: Xavier Collin/Image Press/ABACA