Mum shares ‘genius’ trick she uses to stop her kids from begging for toys in stores before Christmas

She called it the "most amazing" parenting hack.

A mum has shared the 'genius' trick she uses to keep her daughter from begging for toys in the lead up to Christmas. Kristina Watts took to Facebook to share the trick - which left parents stunned and impressed. "Our trips to the store used to be a lot more painful this time of year. Toys are out in full force and of course my kids WANT IT ALL," she began. "Obviously I would love to have sweet, well mannered, non-greedy, chill kids, that don’t ask for all the things...but I don’t. So drop your judgement Karen," she continued. "Now, if you have kids like mine that want the shiny amazing things that fill pretty much everywhere you go this time of year, this is for you."

As for what this magical, mystical trick is? Take a picture of it. She advised parents to pause, comment on whatever their child is pointing out, and not say 'Let's take a picture with it and send it to Santa so he knows you want it.' She then said that while she pretends to send the photos to St. Nick, they go to her daughter's relatives instead. Kristina explained that when she does this with her daughter, the little girl smiles, says cheese, asks to see the picture - and 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," she wrote.

"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. You’re welcome." Kristina's post has been shared more than 54,000 times, with parents flooding the comments to praise the idea. "Totally awesome idea. Plus it lets grandma or whoever, know exactly what they want and where you saw it," one person said. "Why are we not doing this?!" another person added.