Halle Berry pictured with her mom on the red carpet. According to Halle, she was devasted after walking in on her mom eating the cookies she left out for Santa.

Every Christmas card has an easily-identified, seasonal scene. Picture a living room: Christmas tree in the corner, stockings on the fireplace mantle, a plate of cookies on the table, perhaps with a note for one Mr. S. Claus. Look a little closer, toward the corner of the picture. You’ll see someone eating those cookies. And if you happen to be Halle Berry, that someone is your own mother!

As she once told the BBC, Halle discovered the true identity of Santa Claus when she caught her mother eating the plate of cookies she’d baked for the jolly old elf one Christmas Eve as a child. Halle declares that she had a good three years of Santa ahead of her before observing the cold, hard truth.

While we’re discussing Halle’s mother, can we just talk about the name she gave her kid? “Halle Berry” sounds a lot like “holly berry,” doesn’t it? And anyone who’s walked through a retail store between October and January knows that holly berries are a sure sign of the Christmas season. You would think that after going through the trouble of giving your daughter a pretty and festive name, you’d try extra hard not to put a damper on her Christmas memories! Put down the cookie, Halle Berry’s mom!

In all seriousness, it doesn’t appear that this childhood trauma ruined Halle’s adulthood in the least. She is an Academy Award-winning actress who has been smooched by cutie Adrien Brody on the Oscar stage, co-starred with the yummy Hugh Jackman in three X-Men movies, and is currently dating French-Canadian model Gabriel Aubry.* She seems content in her new role as mother to daughter Nahla, and to top it off, I hear that Oprah Winfrey is the godmother. Not a bad life!

There’s no doubt that Halle will do her best to make her child’s holidays especially magical. Just don’t bring up Santa’s cookies if you happen to see her on the street.

*Update: It was reported on April 30th that Halle and Gabriel separated; Halle’s representative confirmed the report several days later.