--- description: Plymouth dad in the Royal Navy surprise his kids for Christmas title: This Royal Navy Dad Surprised His Kids for Christmas By Dressing Up as a Present image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Royal Navy Dad Surprised His Kids for Christmas By Dressing Up as a Present  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Dec 9, 2015 9:31 PM CUT  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Dec 9, 2015 9:31 PM CUT This video of a dad, who recently deployed with the Royal Navy, will make anyone who is able to spend the holidays with their families feel even more grateful. Ruth Stevens of Plymouth, England, posted a clip to Facebook of youngsters Alfie and Lily approaching a massive, clunky-looking wrapped object in their living room and pulling away the sheets of paper until they discover their father, Scott Lee Stevens, hiding underneath it all. The clip has been shared nearly 4,600 times since it was first uploaded to Facebook on Monday. It’s the latest heartwarming homecoming video to go viral on social media this year, from the U.S. Army sergeant who [surprised](http://time.com/3819735/afghanistan-soldier-surpries-dad-arizona-coyotes/ "undefined") his family at a hockey game to the young girl who interrupted a unit’s homecoming [ceremony](http://time.com/4065038/girl-hugs-dad-homecoming-fort-carson/ "undefined") to hug her father. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4143477/present-wrapping-paper-soldier-dad-comes-home-surprises-kids/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4143477/present-wrapping-paper-soldier-dad-comes-home-surprises-kids/"},"headline":"This Royal Navy Dad Surprised His Kids for Christmas By Dressing Up as a Present","datePublished":"2015-12-09T21:31:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:27:33.952Z","description":"An early visit from Father Christmas","url":"https://time.com/4143477/present-wrapping-paper-soldier-dad-comes-home-surprises-kids/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Family & Relationships"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4143477/present-wrapping-paper-soldier-dad-comes-home-surprises-kids/","name":"This Royal Navy Dad Surprised His Kids for Christmas By Dressing Up as a Present"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Elements of A Viral Video","description":"5 Elements of A Viral Video","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vgQtqA8c/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-22T13:42:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vgQtqA8c.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4143477/present-wrapping-paper-soldier-dad-comes-home-surprises-kids/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4143477/present-wrapping-paper-soldier-dad-comes-home-surprises-kids/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```