Did you hear the one about the billionaire parents who plan to give their family members homemade gifts only this holiday season?
Actually, it’s no joke and you might have heard of the parents in question… their names are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Despite Jolie just earning the title of highest-paid woman in Hollywood, and Pitt raking in $20 million for starring in his new flick “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” the parents of six little ones say they won’t be placing pricey presents under the Christmas tree this year.
In a recent interview with Hello! Magazine, Pitt explained that he and Jolie are not big spenders and that the entire clan plans to make homemade gifts to exchange this Christmas.
The 44-year-old dad to six children ranging in age from five months to seven years says the family is in full crafting mode drawing, cutting and pasting holiday-themed projects to hand out on Christmas morning.
So, exactly how do the rich and famous parents avoid being whined to death by kids begging for more expensive holiday loot?
Eliminating TV.
Pitt says he and Jolie have purposely nixed TV from their kids’ lives.
“The kids don’t ask for the big gifts for the reason that they don’t see a lot of the American cartoon television, which is packed with all those manipulative commercials for big toys that look so fantastic,” Pitt tells the magazine. “When they do see that stuff is when they start asking for the toys, so we figure if they don’t see them, they won’t know they’re there. So we have gifts, but we try to keep the money spent to a minimum.”
Hmmm… interesting. So does that mean that the kids live toy-free lives? I doubt it since the paparazzi has snapped Pitt’s 2-year-old daughter Shiloh carrying around a bevy of dolls.
What’s more, with all the free gifts Pitt and Jolie get from manufacturers year-round (with the hope one of the items finds its way into a pap shot) the well-to-do parents really don’t need to spend a dime of their own money purchasing overpriced presents for their children.
What do you make of the Jolie-Pitt’s choice to go homemade this year? Has the struggling economy forced you to do the same?
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