Jobless Mom Spends More Than $1200 On Her Baby For Christmas — Has No Regrets Despite People Shaming Her
She was trolled and called a welfare cheat, but she had a reason for going all-out on Christmas.
sarahbouasker/TikTok New mother Sarah Bouasker was just following a TikTok trend when she shared a video of the floor-to-ceiling haul of Christmas presents she bought for her baby.
But holiday cheer is not what she got in return. Instead, people slammed her for spending more than $1200 on gifts for her one-year-old daughter, Alaya — and it only got worse once they found out she doesn't have a job.
But the 29-year-old mom from Chester, Cheshire, UK explains she has no regrets because she nearly missed her chance to ever enjoy Christmas with her daughter at all.
Bouasker posted a TikTok video showing the towering pile of gifts she'd bought her daughter.
The video shows everything from books and outfits to Cocomelon play sets and a toy toaster.
Despite the enormity of the haul, Bouasker told UK newspaper The Sun she “wasn’t trying to brag or show off," but rather hoping she could help other moms with gift ideas for their kids.
Bouasker hoped to avoid pushback by asking in her caption, "Please no hate, my baby is my miracle and I’m lucky to have her so I will buy her what I want to buy her."
But it didn't quite work out that way.
Bouasker was hit with tons of trolling comments chiding her for spending so much, including from her own family.
Several people scolded her for "spoiling" her baby and accused her of bad parenting, saying she was "trying to buy my daughter’s love instead of showing her real love."
And once people found out she doesn't work, they began accusing her of fraudulently drawing welfare benefits.
Bouasker isn't on any social safety net benefits and her husband makes a healthy income for the family, but that didn't stop the hate.
Even one of her own family members commented, "I’d be better off quitting the job I love to live on benefits" after seeing all the gifts.
Bouasker says she found the comments "devastating," especially because her health struggles made Alaya's birth something of a miracle.
Bouasker's has a congenital heart defect.
Each Christmas could be Bouasker's last, and it very nearly made having children impossible.
Bouasker learned in 2017 she needed life-saving heart valve surgery, and the medications she would need would make her unable to ever have children.
The news left her "absolutely broken," and spurred her doctors to do their best to temporarily repair Bouasker's heart to buy her enough time to have a baby before having surgery.
She welcomed Alaya in May of 2021, but since then, Bouasker's condition has deteriorated and her valve surgery has become even more urgent.
Bouasker's condition inspired her to give her daughter the best Christmas possible.
Because her condition means she can't "know what's round the corner," Bouasker said she wants to create as many memories for Alaya as she can "so she will always have them to look back on."
And she has a message for those trolling her for doing so—"People who judge me should take time to think that they don't know everybody's situation."
"Do your own child's Christmas how you want to and let everyone else get on with theirs."
Many people on TikTok agreed, and the trolling turned into an outpouring of support.
One commenter wrote, "this is what Christmas is all about loving and spoiling our little ones!"
Another agreed, "Hey, if you can afford it then why wouldn’t you. It’s gonna be so magical!"
Others teased Bouasker for other reasons—like little ones' tendency to be more interested in household objects than their toys.
As one commenter quipped, "and after all this they play with the TV remote!"
At least once Alaya gets bored with the remote, she'll be all set with enough toys to last her until at least kindergarten.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.