Jessica D'Entremont/FacebookWhite lies are part of growing up. How many times were you told eating carrots helps you see in the dark, or that the ice cream van only plays music when they’ve run out of ice cream?
Jessica D’Entremont, a Massachusetts mum, found herself in a situation we can all sympathise with: it’s bedtime, but the kids aren’t game to sleep.
In a bid to curb her children’s hyper antics, D’Entremont came up with a genius fib about their glow-in-the-dark PJs.
"Looking for a way to keep your kids still?Buy them glow in the dark pjs. Tell them they have to lie really still…
Posted by Love What Matters on Wednesday, 2 October 2019
How do your glow-in-the-dark pyjamas illuminate at night? According to D’Entremont, you need to lie completely still under lights to ‘charge them’ – brilliant.
In a Facebook post shared by Love What Matters, D’Entremont wrote:
Looking for a way to keep your kids still? Buy them glow in the dark pjs. Tell them they have to lie really still under the light to “charge” them. I’m not even sorry.
To expand on the trickery I’ve started putting the pjs back into their drawer when they get dressed in the morning……unexposed to light all day they dim and do not glow in the dark when they tried to test me last night until they laid down again. Reinforcing the need to lie quietly under the light before bed.
In the picture, you can see her two girls, three-year-old Hannelore and four-year-old Emma, staring with a laser focus at the ceiling, making sure not to move a muscle as to achieve optimum charging for their glow-in-the-dark PJs.
The hilarious fib has struck a cord with people around the world – the original post has since been shared more than 100,000 times.
In an interview with PopSugar, D’Entremont explained the process behind the creative solution:
The kids were jumping and running around, chasing each other with dragons they made out of Legos.
Both of my girls have sensory processing disorders and we had a very busy day. Our walk home threw them all off due to the crowds, noise, and the shopping.
They were about to start freaking out, so I whipped out the pyjamas once we got home and told them if they lie super still and charge them they would glow in the dark.
It gets even better – D’Entremont has been keeping up the elaborate tale, making sure to put the PJs back in their drawer in the morning. ‘Unexposed to light all day, they dim and do not glow in the dark, which I explained when they tried to test me last night until they laid down again,’ she added.
However, as much as it’s funny, something so simple has actually helped the young girls.
D’Entremont added:
We do it every day before bedtime now as a part of their sensory diet. We also use essential oils to help support sleep and calm so this is a great way to get some stillness.
Amazing – I wonder what other white lies my mum and dad told me? At least I know Santa is real!
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.