A mum has shared her go-to trick to stop her child from having a temper tantrum in the supermarket during the weekly food shop - and says it works for all ages.
Every parent knows the struggle of trying to get through a supermarket trip without their child begging for sweets, toys or random items they suddenly “need”. But one mum has shared a clever shopping trick she claims helps her avoid countless public meltdowns - and other parents are calling it genius.
Sharing her advice online, the mum explained how she handles situations when her child asks to hold something she has no intention of buying. Instead of immediately saying no, she lets them carry the item around the shop while making it clear it still belongs to the store. She explained: “If your kid wants to hold something that you have no intention of buying, let them.
“Explain, ‘Sure, you can hold it, but it belongs to the store, not us’.”
Then, when it’s time to head to the checkout, she either gets her child to return the item to the shelf or hand it to the cashier themselves. She added: “Have them say, ‘This is staying here’ or ‘No thanks, we don’t want it’.” If they’re putting the item back on the shelf, she even turns it into a light-hearted goodbye moment.
The mum added: “Just wave bye and be like, ‘Bye bye, item. See you next time!’”
According to her, the trick works because most children don’t actually want the item long-term - they simply enjoy the excitement of holding it in the moment. She said: “Most of the time it’s the kid wanting the item in that moment, not wanting it forever. I cannot tell you the amount of meltdowns I avoided with my kid doing this.”
As her child has grown older, she says she’s adapted the method slightly. Now, instead of carrying the item around the shop, she simply lets her son look at it while explaining they won’t be buying it that day. She added: “Instead I take a picture of him with it to have for later if he still wants it down the road.”
The parenting hack quickly struck a chord with other mums and dads online, many of whom admitted supermarket tantrums can make shopping stressful. Commenting on the post, one user said: “This is a great one! Will try it.
“A similar one that works for me is telling them ‘We can’t get it this time. Would you like to put it on your birthday wish list?’ I have a list in the notes on my phone. I let my daughter see me write the item in. She can’t read yet, but seeing me take it seriously enough to write down makes her feel respected, I think. We’ve had a couple of items that have stayed on that list and been bought for her birthday.”
Another user added: “I was thinking about this the other day. Kid wants me to buy something, I’ll say ‘sure, but let’s put it in the trolley’. Then, at some point, I’ll sneak it out when they aren’t looking.”
A third user said: “This is a God tier hack.”
