Whatever Happened To The Xmas Jammies Family?

In 2013, a then-unknown family burst onto the scene in a wildly popular viral video about #Xmas jammies. In the time since, what started as a fun alternative to the traditional holiday card has garnered a staggering 17 million views and launched the Holderness family (parents Kim and Penn and their two children, Lola and Penn Charles) into the realm of internet stardom. So it may not surprise you to learn that the social media influencers are still making videos today — but that's not all they're doing by a long shot. Find out what the busy crew of four has been up to lately. 

Should you ever start to doubt their sheer creative genius, please refer to yet another viral video Kim and Penn created in the name of mass entertainment. In this far-funnier-than-it-should-be segment, Penn agrees to let a doctor use an electronic muscle contractor to simulate labor pains. It was all in the name of Mother's Day, which, c'mon, seems fair. In the nearly four-and-a-half minute clip that undoubtedly delighted mamas everywhere, Penn writhes in agony, telling Kim, "I just don't want you in my face right now, honestly. No, I'm serious. I need you out of my face and over there for, like, a second, if that's okay."

On the family blog, Kim explained the inspiration for the experience. "Our dear friends Page and Jake came for a visit. Jake is such a good sport," Kim elaborated. "I wanted to shoot a series of videos showing men taking part in activities traditionally experienced by women. Jake and Penn went to a Pure Barre class and got a blow out. Then Penn went solo for a bikini wax and he even experienced simulated labor pains." Of the ordeal, Penn shared in the following Mother's Day post, "I have an insane amount of respect for all that women do to usher all of us into the world." 

Given their uncanny talent for tapping into pop culture hilarity, it's not surprising the Holderness family decided to devote an entire YouTube channel to their viral video shenanigans. And, man, do they cover the gamut. 

Video uploads include everything from songs centered on Penn's sub-par holiday presents to parenting hacks in musical form. The channel — which has amassed over 80 million views — aims at creating "original music, parodies, and Vlogs to poke fun of themselves and celebrate the absurdity in circumstances most families face." Clearly, they're doing something right. Their videos have been featured on Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Mashable, the Today show, and more.  

Sure, everyone dreams of becoming an instant celebrity to some extent. However, in an article she shared with Today, Kim proves that being thrust from civilian obscurity into the limelight isn't always a dream come true. 

The Holderness family matriarch says their rise to internet stardom came with some unwanted baggage: internet trolls. "Anonymous commenters can have their opinions on our parenting," she said. "They don't know us at all. AT. ALL." The occasional helicopter-parenting-commenter is the least of their worries, though. "Now onto those ruthless comments: I do have to say, first, most of the comments have been incredibly positive and supportive," Kim underscored before adding, "But there are a few zingers buried in there. I get it; we are putting ourselves out there and that means we are opening ourselves to the judgment of the anonymous Internet. I get it. Still, it doesn't make it sting less." 

Kim also confessed that the family has come close to quitting more than once, especially when they became overwhelmed and almost lost everything in the beginning. "We lost out on some great opportunities because we didn't have enough people in place to do the work," she said. "We quickly needed to hire a team to help handle the workload. This is the point when I wanted to curl up into a ball and wave the white flag. The stress of providing for other families, as well as ours, was (and continues to be) overwhelming."

Brand partnerships are the name of the game in social media today, and the Holderness family is striking while the iron is hot. Over the summer of 2017, they announced a partnership with Breyer's ice cream, captioning an Insta-shot of the kids by the pool, "We partnered with @breyers to create the perfect summer moment: wrinkled fingers and Natural Vanilla Ice Cream — made with fresh cream, sugar, and milk. What's your perfect summer moment? #ad #ItsSimple." The Holderness fam has similarly collaborated with Chase, HP, Nickelodeon and, of course, the aforementioned Clorox campaign with Alfonso Ribeiro.

In addition to the social media sphere, the Holderness family carved out their own little corner of the television world. While it only had one season as of 2017, their reality show (aptly dubbed The Holderness Family
) debuted on the Up network and focused on their entrepreneurial endeavors. 

"We've been working with Figure 8 Films, a (Carrboro-based) production company that did The Duggers' show. They're still working out the details, but the network we're signing with will focus on watching our company at work, how we go about making the videos. They are interested in uplifting, positive entertainment. We aren't going to be the Kardashians," Penn hinted to the News & Observer. See for yourself — you can watch past episodes online now.