To all the people with the "back in my day" comments, YAY. I somewhat agree, I did the same. But seriously, move on...life and technology has changed, stop bashing parents for using tricks that are available to them but were not available to you or yours. Grow...Up! Yes, even the "adults" here need to grow up. My kids don't need this trick, they accept the word No. But, I still use it for ideas for their birthday and christmas, and it does work. I also dont tell them Santa is real (I have an issue with the lie, but also teach them not to interfere with other kids believing and the spirit of Santa and giving is important) so they know that the pictures are idea generation for family. They might get it, and like circling the overly expensive gifts in a catalog from my day it allows them to dream of getting a huge item they know is unlikely.

My parents didn't tolerate tantrums so we knew better than to have them in the first place. I can't even imagine them trying to negotiate with us like that when I was a kid.

I rarely took my kids out to shop with me.

I don't know, if this was my sister growing up she would have expected every one of those gifts under the tree. Granted her memory is outrageously good, but I would love to see an update about this AFTER Christmas.

What happened to teaching your kids "NO" and teaching them NOT to have tantrums . Tantrums = consequences. There is no way my mom would have tolerated a tantrum. Not at home. Not in public for sure.

I used to let my kids pick out toys to donate. It made them surprisingly happy to share their good fortune, and they learned to keep giving as they grew up.

Or you could teach your kids not to act that way and that they don't get everything they want. Grossssss.

Or... you could just say no & teach your kid not to throw tantrums.

I love the suggestion. There are those who take pictures of everything, but I'm not one of them. Of course, I don't have any cute little ones who do cute things just by existing. However, my nephew, when he was middle school age, was an impulsive shopper who wanted the first thing he spotted in the store. I convinced him to wait until we picked up what we went in for. Sometimes he found other things he wanted but decided to wait until we were ready to leave before making his choice. By the time we were ready for checkout, he had decided that he really didn't want any of it after all. Sometimes he got something, but usually was satisfied with nothing, the impulse was quelled during the walk around the store.

"Back in the day" when I was jonsing for something from Santa, we wrote him. I don't know WHAT my parents thought from age 5-10, when the only thing on my list was a horse. (We lived in the suburbs. I didn't get one.)

I am a Karen and I judge you as: AWESOME!!! This hack is EPIC!!! Also my kids are wild as anything, I'm not judging anyone's kids!

Even better, don't shop so much, leave darling child a home when you have to.

Nice. And if you see your kid consistently going to the same toy, staring wistfully at it, you know you'll have a winner for Santa to bring.

Where has the attitude of entitlement in children come from nowadays? Me and my siblings wouldn't have thought to act up in public. Not that we had the idea and thought better of it... We just didn't get the thought of embarrassing our parents in public. Ever. It was a simple matter of respect. In our parents and ourselves. Something sadly lacking nowadays.

It will work her entire life long! My friend took photos of her daughter trying on different wedding gowns and then of the bridesmaids trying on different dresses. Instead of poring over magazines with tall skinny models, she looked at herself in different designs, made a list of all the things she liked most, then went to the bridal store and asked if they had a gown with these three design elements. THEY DID! Done in a week. She also let her three bridesmaids pick out their own cream-colored dresses -- photo-approved, of course -- and they wore a lavender ribbon around their waist that matched the flowers. Mischief managed!

That works for adults too. What do you think Pinterest and online shopping wishlists are for? bwahaha. But credit to mom's who have figured out a way to curtail tantrums.

Abusive sounding? Tell that to your "kid" that's been to jail 100 times. Do you want them to learn now or never?

Two comments. One we always told our girls before entering a store why we were there and what I was purchasing. Our oldest tried the tantrum route the get a Barbie when I only had money for a spool of thread. My solution... to grab the child and leave the store and go home. My neice pulled this once with me while shopping with my mom and sister. Yup, I grabbed the child and announced we would wait in the car. Again never tried this again. The only time the tantrum almost worked involved ruining the child's surprise. My middle daughter threw a crying fit over a doll. It was a Cabbage kid astronaut. I said no. She cried harder and promised to be my slave for the rest of her life if I would buy her the doll for Christmas. After what seemed like hours of her washing (tears) and drying (rolling on) the floor in toys-are-us. I looked her straight in the eye and asked if she thought I wouldn't get her the doll. I than explained that I already purchased the doll and it was home.

It doesn't sound like a terrible idea, but that kid picks up EVERYTHING.

This is brilliant! I would say with jewelry items to get a good close-up so that family members can see it better.

Great idea. The one with the note from Santa, too; but get someone else to write the note so the kid doesn't recognize the handwriting

It's a great idea. Guess I'm lucky that I never got the kinds of kids that had a meltdown when they heard the word no though!

What a lying manipulative b***h!

lol, i do the exact thing with my girls. i tell them let me take a picture of it so i can tell santa you want it....thought i was the only one ;-)

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I LOVE this idea. Mom is right, it validates the kid, and makes her feel heard, but without any promises.

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Genius idea, and way less emotionally abusive-sounding like others I’ve heard. Especially since kids have always (since time immemorial) wanted everything they saw while in the store, but totally forgot about it by the time they got home. Plus it makes it really easy for the person you decide to pass the picture to, if you feel your child really does want that particular thing, instead of it being a passing fancy. It can be hard for some people to shop for children, since not everyone has kids the same age or is up to date on all the latest popular toys and gadgets.

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