Photo by: Jemsweb

Sleep Dust: a Little Mommy Magic Always Works

Photo by: Jemsweb

When Kevin was very small and occasionally had trouble going to sleep, I used Magic Sleep Dust on him. It was so long ago that it’s hard to remember how I even came up with it. I would have him lie down in his bed and close his eyes, and then I would pull some Magic Sleep Dust (invisible, of course) from my pocket and sprinkle it over his closed eyes, ever-so-gently tickling his eyelashes so he could feel it. “Now, you have to keep your eyes closed or it won’t work,” I’d tell him. “You can’t open your eyes until morning, no matter what, okay?” He would nod his little head in the affirmative with his eyes screwed tightly closed and a grin on his face. And it never failed to work. Of course he would keep his eyes closed so the “magic” could work, and he’d fall asleep.

Somewhere along the line, I lost this. Over the large gap of time between when Kevin was very small and susceptible to magic and the time when the next child came along, and amid the ever increasing chaos of bedtime with the the steady increase in the number of kids who need to be put to bed, this little magic trick was forgotten about.

The other day, out of the clear blue, apparently feeling nostalgic, Kevin said to me, “Mom, remember the Magic Sleep Dust?” And a little shock wave went through me as suddenly it all came back to me. Of course! Magic Sleep Dust! How could I have forgotten that? How is it that I’ve never used that on any of the other kids aside from Kevin? It made me feel sad, actually, and even a little mournful, to realize that such a long time has passed since Kevin was still in footie pajamas and open to magic, and that I allowed something so simple and yet so special slip through the cracks.

Last night, we dealt with the usual bedtime craziness. A little while after all the littles were tucked into bed, Lilah crept out of her room. “Mama?” she said. “I can’t go to sleep.”

So I took her by the hand and walked her back into her room, settled her into bed, and said, “Okay, I have just the thing. Close your eyes, and I’m going to sprinkle them with Magic Sleep Dust. But it only works if you keep your eyes closed all night long, okay?” She had the biggest grin on her face! “Are you ready?” I asked. She nodded “Okay, close your eyes…” and I pulled some invisible Magic Sleep Dust from my pocket, sprinkled it over her eyes, ever-so-gently tickling her eyelashes, and then I kissed her forehead and got up to leave the room. I looked over and both of her sisters were sitting up in bed, watching raptly, speechless.

I didn’t hear another peep from Lilah for the rest of the night. Of course it worked. A little mommy magic always works.

It felt like a gift. Like this mommy still has a few tricks up her sleeve.

Lisa is a 40-something SAHM to six kids, including a pair of twins and a baby with Down syndrome.

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50 Comments

The story is wonderful. I may try that with my children as well.

I also have six children and one of them has down syndrome.

I have twin 2 yr old girls... My one twin insists on waking @ 2 or 3 in the a.m. What age did you start the magic sleep dust? It is a great idea I will try it tonight on them
thanks for sharing!!!!!

What a beautiful story - a little magic dust never hurt anyone! I recently posted about bed time in our house, which we make party time - I think you just have to experiment to find what works for you, and I only have one three year old to put to bed, I can't imagine how long it takes to get six children to bed at night. But this story of the magic dust is lovely.

Such a beautiful story. I must admit, sometimes my form of mommy magic is coupled with hugs and yells. I do remember those gentler moments when my eldest was small and couldn't sleep. I think we instinctively assume the other children over time just ought to know the process. I don't believe in magic, but I am going steal a little of your mommy dust and try it out on my kids!

Love this. I am going to use this tonight! I also use Magic Monster Spray. (A lovely scented air freshener of course.) It keeps the monsters out from under the bed and the closet. I take a piece of copy paper, write monster spray on it and draw a funny little monster. Tape it around the can, and presto! No more monsters!

I loved it. Hope you don't mind, but i'm going to pass this along to other moms with young ones, since moms are magic--(sometimes we forget that in the hustle and bustle of every day life..)

I loved it and will be taking some of your magic to try on my 3 year old and 5 year old, I can't wait til tonight ... thanks hope you don't mind me using some of your magic.

We were devastated by our daughter's death at 28 from a brain tumor. At the time of her death, we had my mother (w/Alzeimers), my 23 year old daughter, my son in-law and our grandson. It was definitely a "reactive" time of my life as I balanced elderly, disabled and young child, while dealing with my own grief. After a long period of taking our gs into bed w/him, our sil started dating. While we had cautioned him to work w/our gs to resolve issues in his own bed, he kept on allowing him in...

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what a beautiful story! I have a autistic grandchild who has trouble going to sleeping, I will try this the next time he spends the night. thanks for sharing

I loved reading your story! I am a new mom, and have a 2 month baby girl. I will definitely use this "magic story" when the time comes. So very sweet!! Thank you for sharing!! =)

To quote Peter Pan :"I do believe in ...Mommies! I do! I do!" LOVE IT!!!

that is such a cute story!!! i have a 7 month old and i will be "borrowing" some sleep dust from you when he gets older =)

My son's only 15 months, but I will have to keep this in the back of my mind to use in the future. How sweet and precious!! LOVE IT!! Thanks for sharing...

What a lovely story and beautiful memories for children especially in this age of technology where children grow up way too fas. I am going to use it on my grandson. Thanks for sharing! :-)

What a great idea! I am going to try this on my 3 year old tonight!

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