“When you have your own kids, you can kind of make stuff up and then just decide that you’re going to do that every single year,” the actress, 41, told Tory Burch in a Friday, December 18, interview.

With that in mind, the Massachusetts native’s former Office costar, also 41, is going to dress up as Santa Claus this year to surprise Katherine, 3. “This is the whole ruse that we’re going to do, and this might become a tradition,” Kaling explained. “Her godfather is B.J. Novak, and he is going to show up and go to our living room, where the tree is, in a Santa costume. Just so you know, we’re Hindu and B.J. is Jewish, so this is, like, cultural appropriation on our part.”

The Why Not Me? author had the idea after being “bummed out” when Katherine couldn’t visit Santa due to the coronavirus pandemic. “She’s the one kid that doesn’t cry and scream,” the Mindy Project alum explained.

Since Kaling’s family will be spending the holidays at home, she has picked out a gift for Spencer, 3 months, to give his big sister since she is “a little ambivalent” about him.

The Emmy nominee’s baby boy arrived in September, and Kaling shared the news the following month during a The Late Show With Stephen Colbert appearance. “I’m telling this for the first time, it feels so strange,” she said at the time.

The director first became a mom in December 2017 when she gave birth to Katherine, and she revealed that Novak is the little one’s godfather in May 2019. “B.J. is so much more like family now than a platonic friend,” she told Good Housekeeping at the time. “He comes over, like, once a week. Sometimes he’ll come over just to hang out with her.”

In December of that same year, Kaling exclusively explained to Us Weekly that the actor babysits “once or twice a week” so she can shower or work out. “He’s great,” she gushed of the Book With No Pictures author, whom she briefly dated while filming The Office.

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Riley Cardoza