“What Happened to Kids Wanting Toys?” — Mom Reads Her Bougie 10-Year-Old’s Christmas List

By Elizabeth Randolph

Source: TikTok/@keyajames

The Changing Landscape of Christmas Wishlists

During the Christmas season, while some of us look forward to catching up with our family over egg nog and Home Alone movies, one thing is on most kids’ minds: their Christmas wishlist. Most adults today can remember anticipating seeing which gifts “Santa” got us and hoping everything on the list made it under the tree. Back then, many of us didn’t appreciate the money and budgeting it took for our parents, err, Santa, to come through for us year after year. However, now that many Gen Xers, millennials, and late Gen Zers are parents themselves, they’re realizing more and more how expensive Christmas can get.

Expensive Tastes in the Digital Age

Almost every day on TikTok, those using the app can see that kids growing up in the 2010s and 2020s have expensive tastes. They’re no longer shopping at kids’ stores for clothes, and many kids don’t even know what Toys “R” Us is. They want luxury clothes, phones, shoes, you name it. In December 2023, a TikTok user named Keya James (@keyajames) showed her viewers what her 10-year-old daughter’s taste in gifts looks like. While sitting in her car, Keya warned us that her child is bougie, so maybe her list doesn’t fit most kids’ tastes. Keya then proceeds to read off the list and sees that her daughter’s first request was an iPhone 15.

The Bougie Christmas List

Keya further proves her daughter is an icon in the making as she sifts through the wishlist. Some items include Ugg slides, a Kendra Scott necklace that Keya questioned was real gold, and a pair of “Jordans/Dunks.” Reading my 10 year old daughter’s Christmas list because she thinks I’m rich. Although Keya’s child wrote “Jordans/Dunks” to signal she could take one or the other, Keya threw shade in her daughter’s direction by stating she doesn’t think Jordan makes Dunks in front of a screenshot of the Nike shoes. Her daughter asked for a pair of kids’ Dior Converse, a Sephora “grift card,” another card from Starbucks, a camera, and “a lot of money.” She also asked for a $230 tracksuit, smiley face slippers, a “permanent bracelet,” and a stuffed Jellycat Flamingo, which was about the cheapest thing on the list, ranging from $16-40 on Amazon.

Parenting in the Age of Social Media Influences

After seeing her daughter’s list, Keya’s viewers felt her daughter would get everything she asked for and suggested she might be to blame for her daughter’s bougie behavior. I mean, if she has two pairs of Golden Goose — clearly you’ve set a standard. Someone else wrote: “My question is, why does she know these brands? Girl, ’cause I didn’t know what Lululemon was until I was an adult. We are in two different tax brackets, LMFAO.” Other users scolded the child’s expensive taste, noting that her preferences are directly due to social media trends, and the only “normal” item or toy on her list was the Jellycat Flamingo. I agree with the users’ perspective and think 10 is too young for half of the items the child requested, namely the Lululemon attire designed initially with adults in mind. However, I’m sure Keya is raising her daughter to be grateful for what she has, and if she can afford to splurge on her child, that works for her.