A mom has gone viral on social media this week after sharing a genius hack to stop kids from begging for toys in the lead up to Christmas.
According to a recent article by BoredPanda, mom Kristina Watts - who hails from Belfair in Washington - came up with her clever scheme after her town was hit by Hurricane Michael.
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Back in 2018, Kristina was approached to help find a way to donate Christmas presents to a local school, and after raising an incredible $45,000 worth of toys, soon her house was festooned with Christmas gifts.
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However, her daughter Emmie didn't understand that the many toys weren't all for her, and wanted to open and play with everything while her parents were boxing them up.
So Kristina had a smart idea: she took pictures of her little girl holding the gifts she wanted, and then afterward printed out the pictures and gave them to her.
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Amazingly, having a physical copy of a picture of each desired gift worked like magic, and placated little Emmie enough for her to stop rummaging around the house looking for presents in the build-up to December 25.
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Taking to Facebook, Kristina shared her hack with other parents on the platform, and included an adorable photoshoot in a store of Emmie picking out her gifts.
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Kristina captioned her post:
"Once again my camera roll is FULL of pictures of Emerson with every single thing she wants for Christmas. Why...because it’s the most amazing parenting hack ever and has stopped MANY meltdowns! If you aren’t using this hack...listen up friends... [sic]"
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She continued: "Take a picture. It’s that simple. Pause for a second, comment on the thing they’re pointing out, and say, 'Let’s take a picture with it and send it to Santa so he knows you want it!'
"Magically, Emmie smiles, says cheese, asks to see the picture, then PUTS THE TOY DOWN AND WALKS AWAY. It’s magical. No tears. No tantrums (by either of us). And she forgets about all of them within minutes. [sic]"
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She added: "Maybe you’ve been doing this for ages, and you selfishly didn’t share this tip with me...or maybe you’re like me and this is about to rock your world. For real, try it friends. [sic]"
So there you have it: if your kids have been driving your crazy during the holidays, then why not try out Kristina's neat idea? It could work wonders for you!