Reese Witherspoon on Avoiding Holiday 'Gluttony'

Charley Gallay/Getty

This Christmas, mom-of-two Reese Witherspoon says that she’ll spend her day much the same way millions of others will — in the kitchen! Abandon any thoughts of the 32-year-old actress slaving away unhappily over a hot stove, however, for preparing a traditional Christmas meal is something she enjoys. "They play with their toys and I cook some dinner," Reese explains to the BBC. "It’s nice." Ava Elizabeth, 9, and Deacon Reese, 5, won’t have mountains of presents to sort through, either. Reese says that she tries to "stay away from the gluttony" of the holiday.

"I’m a little strict about that kind of stuff. I think kids do best when they only have a couple of things that they really enjoy…They don’t appreciate it as much. When they only get one or two things they really like it."

One toy the kids never seem to tire of playing with is mom’s 2005 Oscar statuette for Walk The Line. "At Christmas time they put a little hat on him and a little scarf so he doesn’t get cold," Reese reveals.

Ava and Deacon are Reese’s children with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe. Her latest film, Four Christmases, is in theaters now. 

Source: BBC

Comments

The Oscar with a hat and scarf is too cute! We never had piles of presents either, we at most had about 5-6 per person, sometimes more or less depending on cost.

- Harley on December 1st, 2008

Reese seems like she hasn’t lost her “humbleness” even while making 20 million a movie. Her kids seem happy and well-adjusted, and I love the Oscar story! She was superb in Walk the Line.

- Elizabeth on December 1st, 2008

I just love Reese! I imagine she’s just an awesome Mom to her kids!

- Natasha on December 1st, 2008

That’s just the way I believe kids should be brought up. These days nothing seems to make kids happy anymore!

- Artemis on December 1st, 2008

Apparently her daughter wants a horse as that one present, so it’s not that normal!

- Sarita on December 1st, 2008

I totally agree! If kids have loads of toys, they don’t appreciate them as much. I also think kids become “bored” quicker with a bunch of toys and have shorter attention spans.

- Liv on December 1st, 2008

I love her ideology. My husband and I are working on this too since it’s our girl’s first Christmas. We are hoping to keep the focus on the reason for the holiday.

- emily on December 1st, 2008

Liv, I agree. I just posted on another site about this same story. Last year my husband went all out on toys for the kids and they didn’t play with them for more than a week. Some didn’t hold their interest for more than a day. I read recently that the less a toy does, the more kids like it. You can see that with a two year old and a large cardboard box.

This year the kids are getting simple, inexpensive presents. Books, art supplies and building blocks. Things that they have already shown an interest in and will play with for hours and hours.

- finnaryn on December 1st, 2008

Sarita — I am from the country and once got a horse as a birthday gift. It may not be normal for people who live in the city, but it isn’t outlandishly “star-ish”.

I love that she lets the kids play with her Oscar! How humble!

- Micky on December 1st, 2008

I love that Reese seems so down-to-earth and humble, in spite of being a celebrity. Ava and Deacon seem like such great, well-adjusted kids, and that can be credited to the way their parents have raised them.

- Jennifer on December 1st, 2008