Pookie has been a ball of energy lately…well, more like for the past 5 years. But he has definitely turned it up a notch recently, especially at the table. He pops out of his dinner chair, darts to the kitchen, twirls twice and then begins a script from Dragon Tales. He “falls” out of his chair, in response to the silent Jack and Jill episode running thru his head. He slowly creeps to the edge of his dinner chair, until we finally notice he is not sitting at all.
Our response was to make and use what we call “The Boy Sitter.”
The Boy Sitter makes boys sit. It is a panel of cloth, sewn at each end, with dried bean-filled channels. Pookie wears it over his lap at the table and the weight/pressure reminds him to sit. Its that simple. He does not mean to wander away from his chair, he literally sometimes just forgets to stay sitting. He likes it; if it slips off during dinner, he will pick it up and put it back on his lap.
I made this one. It took about a half yard of fabric and 7-8 bags of dried kidney beans. Ours is pretty heavy, but it will be easy to cut the end open, remove some beans, and make it lighter as we wean him off of it. A quicker solution is a pillow case filled with beans or rice, knotted at the end. The purpose is the same, a physical reminder to help a child remain seated. Its very useful for a child with autism, but would be good for anyone.
Wiggly kids in church? How ’bout a Catholic Sitter?
Wandering kids in the doctors office waiting room? Try a Sickie Sitter!
Overzealous parents jumping up and down and jiggling your Diet Coke bottle as you sit in the bleachers at your kids baseball game? Slap on an Inconsiderate Idiot Sitter!
Related posts:
Rachel said,
April 5, 2008 @ 11:13 am
What a great invention! I could have used one of these as a kid during our long Episcopalian mass…it’s only about an hour and a half long, but when you’re little that seems like an eternity!
Aunt Bean said,
April 5, 2008 @ 5:20 pm
These are also available in vest form, as well as lap form, on a variety of spelcial needs sites (and weightlifting sites?) for those that aren’t as handy as my sil.
Rachel said,
April 7, 2008 @ 5:20 pm
BAGM, I learned something new today.
In my child guidance class, we were talking about devices like these used to help kids calm down….I immediately thought of Pookie and the bus and wondered if you had thought about using one of these on the bus? I know you are trying to not use “props” with him but I wondered if this would help him stay in his bus seat so he doesn’t have to wear that awful harness.
beagoodmom said,
April 8, 2008 @ 8:54 am
Rachel- I had thought about it. But one of the things we have to be careful of is what level of “distrurbance” our plans cause the bus driver and transportation department. They have rules about “altering the equipment”, “unsecured items” and “personal items on the bus.” I agree with you, but since the trans. dept. is working with us, we don’t want to push them too far. We had another BAD incident and have a new plan. I will try to write about it soon. The saga continues!
BeAGoodDad said,
April 8, 2008 @ 4:05 pm
Another problem with using our boy sitter on the bus is that it could fall off of his lap onto the floor and then he would get out of his seat to put it on his lap. It happens fairly frequently at the dinner table which isn’t even moving.
Look what I made!- a weighted lap pad | Be A Good Mom said,
July 31, 2008 @ 5:05 am
[...] the full story here. Related [...]