Few forces are more powerful than a full-blown toddler tantrum. In those moments, when parents cycle through snacks, bribes, gentle-parenting scripts, and increasingly unhinged negotiations, all to no avail, it’s understandable they’d try almost anything. Including, apparently, summoning a mysterious woman named Jessica.

Having fallen out of popularity since its heyday in the ’80s, “Jessica” has found new life, not in classrooms, but in viral parenting videos.

Across TikTok, desperate moms and dads are shouting the name mid-meltdown and watching in stunned silence as their toddlers abruptly stop crying and look around for this offscreen character.

Parents everywhere are trying it

For Tiffani Ortega, a Florida mom, the tactic came out of sheer exhaustion. Her toddler, Luca, was in the middle of a familiar post-park meltdown while being buckled into his car seat, which he apparently “did not like,” she told Today.

In a viral clip, her husband can be heard saying, “Come here, Jessica. He’s crying. Are you going to stop crying? Because Jessica is coming. You want Jessica to come?”

The result was immediate: Luca was miraculously silent.

@tiffaniortegaaa I actually can’t believe this worked 😂 #fyp #foryou #toddler ♬ original sound – Tiff | swfl photographer

I actually can’t believe this worked 😂 #fyp #foryou #toddler ♬ original sound – Tiff | swfl photographer

Meanwhile, in California, Evanthia Davis had a nearly identical experience with the viral hack. Hearing her daughter Delilah crying inside, she called out, “Jessica!”

Delilah stopped mid-cry and began looking around for Jessica.

“Wow, this worked so well. This will be my new go-to when my baby / toddler cries,” Davis wrote in the caption.

@evanthiadavis Wow, this worked so well. This will be my new go to when my baby / toddler cries 😂 Jessica!!! 👍🏻🤣 #jessica #tantrum #help #crying ♬ original sound – Evanthia Davis

Wow,........

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