Single Dad’s Ex Says That Their Daughter Is ‘Worried’ She Won’t Have A Good Christmas At His House Because He’s Broke
He's doing everything he can to make her wishes come true, but he feels like it just isn't enough.
Tero Vesalainen / Shutterstock.com Every parent wants to give their kids the best Christmas ever, every year. That's a tall order for nearly everyone. But as one single dad on TikTok is learning this year, when you don't have a lot of extra cash to spend, it's an incredibly uphill climb.
His little girl is worried her dad is too broke for Christmas and that the holiday is going to be a disappointment.
As nearly everyone is experiencing, times are tough financially right now, and it's having an impact on the holidays for many, from the price of gifts to the cost of groceries for Christmas dinner.
Dad Ryan Powell is definitely feeling the pinch and his young daughter seems to have noticed. "Christmas has been so rough," he said in a recent TikTok video. "My daughter's mother hit me up the other day and said so."
His ex told him their daughter has been saying she doesn't think she's going to have a good Christmas at her dad's this year after seeing the small number of gifts under his tree.
Hearing his little girl's words left him shocked and worried because he was stretched so thin financially.
"I was in absolute shock when I got that message and I started freaking out," Powell said. "My heart dropped." He went on to say it immediately triggered anxieties that his ex was going to try to take him back to court for more child support and a different custody agreement.
That doesn't seem to be the case so far, but the experience has left him feeling demoralized all the same. Showing the gifts under his tree, he shared that he was only able to get his little girl three things. "So she knows what's underneath the tree and she's worried."
Photo: fizkes / Canva Pro
He also knows he can't compete with what Santa Claus is going to bring his daughter to her mom and grandparents' house. "Let's be real here," he said. "She's expecting the freaking world from Santa Claus at both houses."
His financial situation is dire because of $350,000 in legal bills he has from the previous custody proceedings with his ex when his little girl was a baby. That harrowing experience left him unable to buy anything extra for his daughter and he can't help but worry about how that makes him look as a father.
Friends were able to help him get the biggest gift his daughter asked for, but the blow to his pride was difficult.
"They gave me about $150 to help," he said of his close friends. "So I want to show you the one thing that I knew that I was not going to be able to afford, but my friends helped me out." He then showed a huge box containing his daughter's most wanted gift. "My daughter is going to get the Barbie dream house that she wanted," he said.
But his friends' generosity came at an emotional cost. "As a man, it kills me that I had to accept help from someone," he said. "I'm supposed to provide and protect and take care of everything on my own without any help."
Regardless, he said he was "so thankful" for the help. He hoped his experience would shed light on what many single dads were up against. "We all understand the single mom situation, but we don't listen to the single dad situation," he said. "We just want to be dads."
Powell's situation is common for single parents, especially in today's economy.
Though the economy is thankfully showing signs of improvement, much of the benefits have yet to be felt by lower-income families. For example, wages have been increasing in the past few years, but mostly, it's been for the top 10% of earners. And while inflation is definitely slowing down, that doesn't mean prices of goods are decreasing from the peaks they've reached the past couple of years.
No wonder, then, that a poll found that more than a third of Americans — including 39% of those making more than $100,000 a year — planned to use high-risk, high-interest, high-fee "buy now, pay later" loans from companies like Klarna and AfterPay to buy Christmas presents.
All of that to say, if you are a parent like Powell who is struggling to make Christmas magic for your kids, you are not alone. And getting your daughter her Barbie Dream House with someone else's help is still getting your daughter her Barbie Dream House. A win is a win, and a win by definition is not a failure.
But more importantly, as someone who grew up with a single mom who struggled mightily every year only to always fall short of my Christmas and birthday dreams, I can tell you this: One day — maybe not until they're adults, but one day nonetheless — your kids will recognize how hard you strived to give them what they wanted most, even if you didn't quite get there.
They may not get it now. But that love and devotion is what they'll remember when they think back on the holidays down the road. And there isn't a thing you can put under the tree that will ever mean as much to them as that.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice, and human interest topics.