Brenda Song ‘Will Do Whatever’ It Takes to Keep Holiday Magic Alive for Kids (Exclusive)

Brenda Song is trying to keep the holiday magic alive for her sons.

The Running Point star, 37, recently chatted with PEOPLE and opened up about how she spends the holidays with her two boys Carson, 2, and Dakota, 4, whom she shares with Macaulay Culkin, 45. Song says that she “will do whatever it takes to keep” the holiday magic alive for them as they get older.

“There are times where I’m like, ‘Do we have to dress up as Santa Claus?’ [But,] we do Elf on a Shelf. We do all the Advent calendars. We do it all,” she explains. “The thing that I’ve had struggle with is I do a mall Santa photo with my kids every single year, and my oldest is now starting to be like, ‘That’s not the same Santa.’ And I was like, ‘Yes, it is.’ I was like, ‘Remember he grows older and sometimes he goes on vacation. Sometimes he’s more tan, and sometimes he needs to cut his beard.’ ”

“So we’re getting at that age where it’s getting tricky, but I will do whatever it takes to keep the magic alive for as long as possible,” the mom of two continues. “When we write our letters from Santa, I make sure that it looks like no one’s handwriting. I’ll write with my left hand.”

The Home Alone actor, 45, and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody actress started dating in 2017 after meeting on the set of Changeland in Thailand. The pair welcomed their first child, Dakota, on April 5, 2021. Less than two years later, Brenda gave birth to their second son, Carson.

The parents are notoriously private when it comes to their children, with Song telling Bustle in a January 2025 cover story that they intentionally try to shield them from the spotlight.

“My son was like, ‘Why is that man taking pictures of you, mama?’ ” she recalled of one instance when she was photographed at a soccer game. “You could take pictures of me all day. I don’t care. But when it’s your kids, it’s different. They didn’t ask for this life.”

Last December, Culkin revealed in an interview with E! News that he and his fiancée “go all out at Christmas in our house” for their two sons.

“Because right now, they’re at the magic age where they believe, and we want to nurture that belief,” Culkin said, adding that he even had a plan for explaining where he’ll be while screening Home Alone across the country.

“I told them that I’m at Santa’s workshop fixing toys, because that’s what I do for them at home,” he said. “I’m so good that Santa Claus called me up to the North Pole. They’re totally fine with that.”

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Culkin shared his tasks around the holidays included being on stocking duty. He described himself as being the “master” as he stays on top of his game every year.

When it comes to gifts, his kids’ tastes appear to be overlapping — Dakota wanted “a Spider-Man truck, he wants a truck from New York City and he wants more presents,” while his youngest son wanted a truck of his own.

“And my youngest heard exactly what he said. He goes, ‘I want a garbage truck. I want garbage bins and I want more presents.’ It’s like they’re wishing for more wishes,” Culkin said at the time. “I’m like, ‘You guys are certainly my sons.’ ”

Culkin added that he knows he’s done a good job of gift-giving when Song asks him, “Where’d you get that?” — something that happened when he picked up a Zoltar fortune-telling machine, apparently from Switzerland.

He raved that his algorithm is flooded with recommendations based on his “kooky taste,” and it simplifies hunting for gifts.