Sit-Still-Squeezer

Tertius has always been stereotypical "BOY."  He's a bundle of energy, a wrecking ball, and always moving.  When he was still a baby, he would not settle down enough to nurse unless I held one of his legs and shook it violently the whole time.  To get him to sleep, I had to put one hand on his leg and one on his chest and shake/rock him back and forth.  He just always had to be moving or else he couldn't feel relaxed.

Often his preferred method of travel around the house is what we call "Ninja Rolls" instead of simply walking.  A friend asked me once if I thought he could be autistic because she noticed he wouldn't look me in the eye when I was giving him directions (he was just not interested in standing still when he had places to go and things to do.)  I believe that if he were to go to public school, he would be diagnosed with ADHD.

He has no problem sitting still when it's something that interests him, though.  Unfortunately, family scripture study every night and Family Home Evening every Monday usually don't hold his interest.  Seeing him bounce all over the living room drives me crazy and distracts the girls, so I've been wanting a way to encourage him to be more reverent when I need him to be.  So I made a Sit-Still-Squeezer.

It's just a latex glove filled with flour.  The rule is that he has to be sitting still to play with it or else it gets taken away.  We've been using it for a few nights now and so far it's working pretty well.  There have been a couple times during the day that he has actually come to me and asked, "Can I have my Squeezer?  I promise I'll sit still!"  It's amazing how fun some flour in a glove can be!

(Read an update in Part 2.)