A mum has been left feeling heartbroken after fearing she has "ruined" Christmas for her daughter.
The mum, who regularly posts videos from inside US retail chain Target on TikTok, shared a video from her @didyousaytarget account, explaining how she felt like the "magic" of Christmas was now gone.
Filming from inside her car, the mum, whose name is Annie, explained: "I have a three-year-old and all she wanted for Christmas is this Barbie camper Jeep extravaganza of a gift".
Annie continued to explain how she looked for the Christmas gift her toddler wanted everywhere, and finally found it in Walmart, the US retail store.
The frustrated mum added that she arranged to have it delivered without "really thinking about it," and that when she was driving home from school with her daughter it was sitting "right in the middle of the driveway".
She continued: "Like right in the centre of the driveway. Not on the porch, not up against the house. It is in the middle of the driveway.
According to Annie, the Barbie gift did not arrive in discreet packaging – and it had a massive picture of the Jeep on the side.
This meant it was impossible for Annie, who was frantically trying to decide what to do, to hide the gift.
Annie explained how there was "no time to process" what to do to rectify the situation, because as soon as they turned the corner to the house, her daughter had clocked on to what was sitting in the middle of the driveway.
The mum continued: "So, she sees it, so I'm frantic. So then, this is what I came up with in two minutes. I failed everything by the way. I'm telling you the story, I failed already.
"I grab a piece of paper from my purse and I get out of the car and said Santa must have brought it early because I didn't get it. Did daddy get it? I have no idea who got this thing and how is it here?"
Annie then pulls out the piece of paper and pretends to read from it, saying: "Dear child, who's been so good. I couldn't fit this on my sleigh, so I had to deliver it early. However, it's not going to work until Christmas so you're going to have to save it. Happy early Merry Christmas."
The toddler mum went on to sum up what was "wrong with the situation".
She said: "One, she's three and she wants to play with it now. Two, what's also wrong with that problem is that I have now sent my child to tell every other child in school that she already got a gift from Santa and ruined it for every other parent. I'm sorry."
Anne concluded by asking her fellow TikTok parents what they do with the presents before Christmas to keep them secret.
One Tiktok user said: "Option one, have it delivered to the store. Option two, check box that indicates it's a gift so it doesn't come in its original packaging. Option three, ship to a friend".
Other commenters recommended Annie track any future parcels and make sure the daughter isn't home when it arrives.
Meanwhile, many were quick to reassure Anne that she "hadn't ruined Christmas," and that it was just a funny story to "tell her later in life.
How do you keep Christmas presents hidden from your child? Let us know in the comments below.
