Mum terrified she's 'ruined Christmas' after three-year-old daughter saw present

One mum landed herself in a spot of bother and left worried she'd 'ruined Christmas' after her young daughter spotted one of her presents well ahead of the big day.

She said: "Well I already ruined Christmas, so there's that.

"Yesterday as we were driving home from school and pull into the driveway, there it is right in the middle of the driveway."

If she had any hopes that her three-year-old daughter wouldn't see the present then they were immediately dashed as the child spotted it right away.

Pretending a blank piece of paper was a letter from Santa, she told her daughter she'd been so good and Santa just couldn't fit the gift on his sleigh, so he'd sent it ahead with the warning that it's 'not gonna work until Christmas'.

If nothing else it deserves some appreciation for the quick thinking to rustle up a letter from Santa on the spot, but the mum revealed that she'd dug one almighty festive hole for herself.

Problem number one was that 'she's three and she wants to play with it now', meaning she's stuck telling her daughter she can't play with the toy she really wants for over a month, which feels like about 10,000 years when you're three years old.

The second problem was that her daughter could now go to school and 'tell every other child that she already got a gift from Santa' and she was worried she just 'ruined it for every other parent'.

She asked the more experienced parents for a bit of advice on where to stash the gifts and ensure that the kids didn't find them until Christmas Day.

Some of the more popular suggestions involved having it delivered to the shop so the parents could pick it up at their leisure or sending it to someone else's house so it didn't turn up unexpectedly.

Another idea was having the present sent as a gift, which it really should be when you think about it, so it comes pre-wrapped and at least preserves the surprise.

Again, Santa is totally real and is the one actually bringing you all of these presents, the fact that the drink you leave out for him is one that your dad also likes is entirely coincidental.

Honest.