The Strange Tale of the Glowing Shirt

Today, Avery was wearing a shirt with a glow-in-the-dark scull and crossbones (Halloween outfits are pretty much a year-round affair). For some reason he decided to go into the dark garage, perhaps because he thought it was time to get ready for school.

While in the garage he realized that his shirt was glowing. He came running back inside, told Zachary, and they both went back into the garage. They came in and out a couple of times, and then after a while I noticed that they had been gone for at least five minutes.

I opened the garage door and called their names and heard their voices, all muffled. "Where can they be?" I thought. "Behind the car? Under the car?" So I flipped on the light, and they were *in* the car, door closed, seat belts buckled, talking to each other and admiring Avery's glowing shirt. Neither of them can get unbuckled yet without assistance, but they did not want me to release them.

So, I gave them some chocolate milk, opened the car door and inside garage door, and now I'm sitting inside, enjoying the peace and quiet, and wondering if glow-in-the-dark shirts and dark garages are a legitimate parenting technique.