Wanting to make a secret payment to family?

I'd like to give a couple of one-off payments to my beloved niece and nephew in this difficult time. Husband is not convinced, thinks it 'changes the dynamic' between us, is not appropriate, etc. I'm wondering about making the payments independently from my own pension/savings rather than from joint account. Rather in the spirit of an old family friend who used to slip me a fiver in my youth - although the amounts have gone up somewhat! But what do you think. Should I hold off, or just do what I want to do. Is the secrecy aspect a problem do you think.