- Kayla Prasek’s daughter’s No. 1 Christmas wish this year was a Barbie RV camper
- One day earlier this month, after her kids got home from school, they went outside to play, and discovered an Amazon delivery driver had dropped off the gift at the door. Upon seeing it, her daughter cried
- Prasek’s Ring doorbell camera captured the moment, which she later posted to TikTok so her friends and family could see the sweet way her son consoled his sister
- Since then, the video has gone viral, garnering 1.5 million views and more than 5,800 comments
The No. 1 Christmas wish Kayla Prasek’s 4-year-old daughter had this year was a Barbie RV camper — and that’s exactly what she’s getting from her grandparents! However, the surprise arrived a bit earlier than expected.
Prasek, a mother of four, tells PEOPLE that the mishap occurred on Monday, Dec. 2, after her kids got home from school. As her children went outside to play, an Amazon delivery driver dropped off the gift at the door. To their surprise, the camper arrived without any packaging, sitting out in plain view on the doorstep. Although Prasek’s parents had planned to gift the present to her daughter, they had it shipped to Prasek’s home since they would be with the family on Christmas morning.
“When she saw it, you could see her excitement because she knew exactly what it was — she had been asking for one,” Prasek says. “In an attempt to salvage the moment for my parents, I told her it was a toy we were going to donate to someone who didn’t have gifts. We do this every year, so she bought the excuse … but had some big feelings when she realized it ‘wasn’t for her.’ ”
Prasek, 35, says her first priority was to get the toy out of sight — while also making sure none of the family pets escaped the house. Her son, 10, she says, was the “real hero” in the situation and stepped up to hide the gift inside.
“Once it was out of view, I just grabbed her and snuggled her, assuring her that just because we were giving the gift to someone else to make their Christmas special didn’t mean she wouldn’t get one or wouldn’t have a great Christmas,” Prasek tells PEOPLE.
“I wish I had recorded her happily playing with her brothers and neighborhood friends in the cul de sac five minutes later,” she adds. “I think it’s hard for people to see her cry, but she really did bounce back very quickly and now looks forward to making Christmas special for someone else by donating it.”
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The Texas mother’s Ring doorbell camera captured the moment, which she later posted to TikTok so her friends and family could see the sweet way her son handled the situation and consoled his sister. Since then, the video has gone viral, garnering 1.5 million views and more than 5,800 comments.
At first, Prasek says she didn’t understand the fascination, but after reading and responding to some of the comments, she realized she wasn’t the only one facing this issue recently.
“I was honestly really mad at Amazon, but I guess they’ve recently changed their shipping options, and I missed a drop-down menu to select ‘hide packaging,’ ” she says. “I’m not sure it’s the right move on their part to make it default to manufacturer packaging, especially around Christmas when moms already have so much on their plate. It feels like just one more way to mess up the magic of Christmas.”
“It’s also been really eye-opening to see how everyone does Christmas differently and in their own way,” she adds. “I was shocked at how many people suggested I just tell her that Santa came early.”
Looking back on the recording, Prasek says that while it was tough to see her daughter upset, the beauty of watching her son step in with empathy — and seeing her daughter work through those big feelings to let it go — gave her hope for how she will handle challenges in the future.
“She won’t always get what she wants when she wants it in life, and moments like this help prepare them for that,” Prasek says. “I plan to make another video of her donating the toy because she’s honestly talked about it a lot since this happened. She’s excited to share the joy she felt in that moment with someone else, and living with others in mind isn’t a bad thing!”
Despite the mishap, Prasek says she plans to continue shopping online, as it’s more manageable with four kids. According to Amazon, in 2023, their packaging initiatives helped them to save more than 446,000 metric tons of packaging. Customers have the option to add Amazon packaging at check-out, and they can also requests a gift message or gift wrap.
To help ensure gifts stay a surprise during the holidays, they are also adding Amazon packaging to additional product categories for which customers frequently request gift or added packaging, including toys, through the end of the holiday season where possible.
“This camper is being donated to our church’s giving tree,” Prasek says. “Amazon is out of them online, but we’ll be getting one for her from Target and letting my parents gift it to her as planned,” she adds.
“My hope is that she learns to live a life of abundance from this experience — that she can give to others and still get the things she wants in life. I tell my kids all the time, ‘I dare you to try and be more generous than God,’ or ‘You can’t out-give God,’ and this feels like a good opportunity to drive that lesson home.”
“Seeing big brother’s empathy towards his little sister in that moment gave me peace of mind that even though we are far from perfect, we are raising some pretty stellar humans,” she adds. “He validated her and consoled her so beautifully and it filled my heart with all the Christmas joy I need!”
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