There is something to say about peace and quiet. And, as parents of busy, active, vocal kids, we relish those moments. But, as parents of busy, active, vocal kids, we recognize that quiet can also mean one of two other things… sleep or trouble! This holds true as teachers of busy, active, vocal students. When things become too quiet, it is time to check. Case in point!
My boy, Ricky, was one of those busy, active, and very vocal kids. He was your typical kindergartner… didn’t like to sit, didn’t like to wait, didn’t like to share, didn’t like to be quiet, and didn’t like to be told what to do. Like most kinders, he wanted things done his way, on his time schedule, not ours. Ricky was also very strong minded, strong willed, and physically strong for a little guy. He would squirm when sitting, squirm when standing, and, somehow squirm when moving! Ricky was also very smart. He spent the majority of his time trying to figure out how to get out of things. I would often comment to him about putting that same energy into his schoolwork! Yep, he was my kind of kid!!!
Ricky had low tone, so he needed help with sitting, and support when walking. We used an adapted chair with armrest supports with a seat belt for sitting. The chair was perfect for him because we could sit him at his desk. For the bathroom, we had a similar adapted potty seat that was anchored on top of the toilet seat. It had a seatbelt and armrest supports to help with his leaning from side to side and overall squirminess! The adapted potty seat was anchored to the toilet with two knob-like screws, which I thought, were pretty tight.
One area of contention for Ricky was going to the bathroom, an activity he did not like. He wouldn’t fight us to go to the bathroom, nor would he fight us to get on the potty seat. What he would do is vocalize, very loudly, the whole entire time he sat. While vocalizing his displeasure, he would squirm, try to slide out, try to climb out, and finally, would turn around as best he could, and try to unscrew the knobs that anchored the potty seat to the toilet seat. I never thought too much of it, because, after all, the knobs were on tight… rightttt!!!!
On this particular day, I put Ricky on the potty like any other day. He sat down, I buckled the seatbelt, and left him to do his business. He was in the bathroom with several of his classmates. They were all vocalizing their happy/unhappy sounds, with Ricky being the loudest. It went on like this for a few minutes… when all of a sudden everything went dead quiet. My paras and I immediately went to the bathroom, because it had become way too quiet! Something was not right. And yes, something was not right.
Walking into the bathroom, I find my boy Ricky, bent over, standing in front of the toilet he should have been sitting on. How did he get loose? He managed to unscrew the two knobs (which I assumed he had been loosening up the whole entire time) that secured the potty seat to the toilet seat. Why was he just standing bent over in front of the toilet? Well, while Ricky was learning how to unscrew the two knobs that held the potty seat to the toilet seat, he failed to learn how to unbuckle his seatbelt!!!
So, there he was, standing in front of his toilet, looking really confused, with his adapted toilet seat still seat belted to his naked bottom!!! Yep, Ricky taught me a lot that day!!!!!!!