A distraught mum has pleaded for advice after fearing she has ruined Christmas forever.
The woman was left upset after her five-year-old daughter accidentally stumbled on all her Christmas presents which her mum had hidden.
The woman says she is now unsure of what to do to salvage Christmas and begged fellow parents on Mumsnet for help.
She said: "I only have myself to blame but please help me salvage this.
"My daughter is five and very very excited for Christmas.
"We don’t have a lot of money, but this year I managed to get two playsets of a type of toy she likes and my plan was to build them up and they would be sitting out 'from Santa'.
"I picked them up this week, but I’ve been busy, so I hid them in a cupboard in a room she never goes in... but somehow curiosity overcame her and she’s found them! Santa should have been making them in his workhouse!
"How do I resolve this? Do I buy new gifts from Santa and say those ones she found are from me?
"It’s my own fault and I probably feel disproportionately sad about this, but I feel like I’ve spoilt the magic."
However fellow mums reassured the woman that there was a solution, offering tips on how to resolve it.
One person said: “This is a good opportunity to reset that Santa brings stocking fillers and the rest of the presents are from parents. So yes, I’d say they’re from you and put something that you were going to give her as the surprise Santa present.”
While another advised: “Tell her Father Christmas sent them to you to check they were the right ones and now he’s asked for them back so he can deliver them.”
And a third added: “You’re just waiting for the elves to take them to Santa to deliver. Sounds implausible? I used to believe this nonsense when I was a kid! It was what our parents told us.”
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