- Roxanne Loya welcomed her first child just 20 days after turning 16, with her high school sweetheart – now her husband – who was 18 at the time
- Since then, the Phoenix-based couple has had three more children: two daughters and a son
- As a mom, Loya, now 34, is determined to give her children the life and opportunities she never had, including through their Christmas lists
- Recently, Loya took to TikTok to share her 12-year-old daughter’s Christmas list, where it has since gone viral.
One mum is determined to give her children the best Christmas ever – even if it comes at a high price.
For Roxanne Loya, her goal as a mother is to give her children the life and opportunities they never had. Speaking to PEOPLE in an exclusive interview, Roxanne revealed that she welcomed her first child just 20 days after turning 16, with her high school sweetheart — now her husband — who was 18 at the time. Since then, the Phoenix-based couple has had three more children: two daughters and a son.
“I know it sounds like a cliché, like the American dream, but honestly, we both grew up very poor,” says Loya, now 34. “We made a pact with each other that it would be us against the world.”
“Even though we did a great job and succeeded in that, we somehow ended up with very demanding kids,” she adds.
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Roxanne Loya with her husband and 4 children, plus their 2 dogs.
Sylvia Vasquez
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Recently, Loya took to TikTok to share her 12-year-old daughter’s Christmas list, which included items such as $98 Lululemon tights, a digital camera, two phone cases over $30, high-end makeup products from Charlotte Tilbury, and expensive perfume, including Carolina Herrera’s Good Girl Blush Elixir, which retails for about $100.
The list also included links to where the items could be purchased, along with the sizes her daughter hoped to get. Loya noted on TikTok, which now has more than 280,000 views, that her daughter marked items she really wanted with a pink bow. In total, she estimates the list is more than $5,000 — just for one child.
“If you look at the list now, she added a thousand more things to it,” adds Loya. “Every five seconds, even when she’s at school, I get notifications saying, ‘Audrey updated her list, Audrey updated her list.’ I have to text her and say, ‘Girl, put that list down!’ ”
When her daughter first presented the list, Loya admits she thought, “No, no, no.”
“But then I pretty much bought everything on it,” she says. “My mom thinks I’m crazy. I grew up in a very conservative household, where the holidays meant getting underwear and socks. She thinks I’m crazy how spoiled my kids are, but that’s what we can provide, and that’s okay. ”
Since posting the video, Loya has received some negative feedback and criticism. But she says that if she ever felt her children didn’t deserve those things — or if they misbehaved, got bad grades or didn’t keep their heads straight — the gifts would be taken away just as quickly.
“People seem to think life is interesting when you spend $5,000 on your 12-year-old daughter’s Christmas list or take your girls to Lululemon,” she says. “But what comes with the hate is a lot more love because people don’t understand the whole story and what it takes to get here.”
“Sometimes when you tell the whole story, people get bitter about it, too. They ask, ‘So, how did she get away with it? She’s so happy.’ But my husband and I own three companies in health care and things like that.”
Roxanne Loya poses with her children and husband.
Sylvia Vasquez
Loya also explains that filling out her kids’ wish lists ensures they get what they really want, rather than spending money on things they won’t use.
“Your child knows exactly what he wants, and that confidence comes from the way you raised him,” she says. “For them to feel confident enough to say, ‘Mom, this is what I want and I like it,’ and to dream big — that’s huge.”
“I’m a big demonstrator, so I think even if it’s not something that’s achievable right now, it’s achievable in the world,” she adds. “I always taught my girls to dream big.”
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Source: HIS Education