STORIES OF LIFE WHILE DOIN’ THE SIZZLE BOP!
These non-linear kids provide moments that other kids wouldn’t dream of. I will never find my daughter on the roof of the house. I’ve never had to open the clothes dryer and ask her to finish reading the chapter she’s on and come out for lunch. And when I looked at the worn, old door with pieces of metal deeply embedded in its wood from the fierce and forbidding trebuchet launcher sitting innocently across the basement floor, not once, not ONCE did I even remotely think of my daughter. Only my son, my loveable, grinning-from-ear-to-ear-you-never-know-what’s-coming-son could possible have been the inspiration of all such moments. (and countless more).
This page is where the Sizzle Bop! Community shares it’s stories, both funny, heart breaking and empowering. Read through and see if you find glimpses of your own child here. And if not, send us your story!
BURIED AMBITION
My son who is now 15 has ADD (he is a wonderful caring considerate human being he holds doors for people, he helps seniors to the car with their groceries etc. He is boundless in his energy level!!!!! ) He is much easier to deal with now that he is older , however since I am a
single parent he is much too helpful at times We had to run an extension cord from our shed to the bushes for the Xmas lights. When I came home from work he came running up to the car to tell me how he had dug a hole( a trench) and buried the wire so it wouldn't show - well we live in Maine and that night the ground froze and the wire is there
'til May I'm afraid!!! -- Kathy
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LAUNDRY LESSONS
Beckie (my 10 year old) is supposed to bring her laundry to the washer to be washed as soon as the clothes are level with the laundry basket. Instead of following our routine, she waited until the laundry pile was beyond heaping and she was about out of clean winter clothes and would have to wear shorts soon. So when she finally put the clothes down the laundry chute, I called her in and showed her the mountain of clothes on the washer. I asked "What do you think about this huge laundry pile?" Without a moment's hesitation, she said "We need a bigger washing machine!" (When will I learn not to ask questions that are
open-ended?!?)—Melinda B.
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THE "UNDER" ACHIEVER
Several years ago, when my son was about 10, my husband and I had gotten to the point of forbidding him from riding his bicycle or visiting friends anywhere but the yard because he was so careless and unaware of the danger on the roads in our quiet neighborhood. He would dart in front of cars....you get the picture. Well, a group of boys came to visit one day and asked if he could go back to their home. They lived a few streets away and a very busy road had to be crossed. So that he could save face, we told him dinner was about to be served. Afterwards, we instructed him that he was not to go to their home. We were just not comfortable with him crossing the busy road. Several days later I came home from work a different way....on the busy road (doesn't the Lord work in mysterious ways!) and lo and behold there was Vaughn playing in the yard of these boys.
I was fuming. I went home first and asked my husband if he gave permission. An emphatic NO. I drove back over to the boys home, promptly gave the old finger curling signal - "get here now". He waved happily and ran over and jumped in the car. Chatting away about all the fun he had had. As I pulled out of their driveway, the steam coming from my ears, I asked him why he had disobeyed. He assured me that he had not and continued chatting away. In no uncertain terms did I tell him that not only was he in trouble for crossing the road, but for lying about it. He yelled out "STOP". As I
screeched to a halt, on the busy road, he said smiling - "see that little pipe that runs under the highway, I crawled through. See Mom, I didn't cross the road." Honestly, I was hysterical laughing. What could I do? He had me on a technicality.
—Lisa S.
(Editor: Sizzle Bop! is fairly certain that there is a future lawyer residing in your
house.)
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CONTAIN YOURSELF
We have mastered sitting still long enough to complete a subject, however, that wasn’t always the case. One thing that really helped and worked was the laundry basket. My daughter asked if she could sit in it (on the chair) while doing school. I said okay not knowing that it would help her (and me). She still moved around a lot, but stayed in the confines of the laundry basket.
—Kathy C.
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QUESTION BLITZ
I remember one time when I was so exhausted and my son was on one of his rides and I just said, "Son, please! Mommy can't take your energy right now. Why don't you sit down so we can talk". So I told him that I needed some help. He sat down right then and there and said, what's wrong Mommy? I told him I needed some answers to some questions. Such as
what lives in the ocean, where do butterflies come from, how big is the
earth, how do you run a lawnmower, what is a paper shredder, what is the
President's responsibility, how hot is the sun
and I went on and on. This child was so involved with answering these questions and I made sure that he knew he was telling me the right answer, even if he was a little off. This was HIS time to be in charge and we absolutely enjoyed it. It took up a good hour and when we were done with that, he was ready to give me a break and I guess from what HE thought, let me digest all the information he had just given me!!!!!! He felt so proud that he was giving direction to my life
rather than me telling/asking him what he needed to do. –- Mrs. M
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FRESHLY MOWED MATH
My son's favorite subject is math. He'll take math over art even. But sometimes, even he can get tired of workbook pages. I have learned to recognize the restless spirit in him and to let go of what could be a rigid schedule and to just teach "off the cuff". On one such day, when the sunshine was teasing us to come outside, I could see that for my son to stay at his desk, working on his math, was taking an extraordinary amount of self-restraint. He needed a break. And, although we have a desk on our front porch as well (for those beautiful Kentucky mornings when no sane person could possibly school inside the house)... I knew that a desk was not what was needed at that moment. So I came up with a plan.
Our son had just this very year began to be allowed to sit on our riding lawn mower and mow the level part of our side lawn. This was still new to him and he loved the new responsibility. So, imagine his surprise when I told him that his math lesson for the day was to "mow" the side lawn!... His face brightened immediately and I could feel the thank you from his heart.
I began by instructing him to mow as perfect a rectangle as was possible, around the outside of the side yard. We then discussed "perimeter". Using "giant steps" as our measuring unit, arm-in-arm we walked off the measurements of the freshly-mowed rectangle. We then discussed the formula for finding "area" and son mowed the inside of the rectangle. A couple of worksheets were hastily developed that concerned area and perimeter and that mysteriously dealt with problems such as finding the perimeter of "lawns" which had been drawn on the sheets by me). And with lemonade and the summer breeze as our companions, we threw away the workbook for a day and tackled the idea of area and perimeter --creative style. Dad was pretty happy too... he got a freshly-mowed lawn from the lesson!
— Geneva B.
(Editor: Sizzle Bop! wishes you to know that purely in the interest of furthering mathematical advancement, several lawns have been unselfishly offered for your son’s continued study.)
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BUT I MADE IT FOR YOU!
We have had a problem lately with our son getting into the refrigerator and spilling liquids because as he says, "he is making a potion for his laboratory." One day, after just scrubbing the kitchen floor, again, due to one of his "potions", feeling exhausted, I went for retreat into the bathroom (the only place I can seem to get a few minutes alone.) I thought it seemed to get rather quiet downstairs so, with almost the same energy level as my son, I leaped down the stairs and ran immediately for the kitchen. As expecting, the refrigerator door was wide open and as I peered over the top. My son looked up at me and said "I'm making you dinner, Mom." I could see he was churning something with a very small spoon. The something? The bucket which I had just used to scrub the floor was now emptied into the vegetable drawers of the refrigerator, the remainder of milk, orange juice, and yes, even spring water, was mixed in as well.
We've since opted for a lock on the refrigerator, but as awful as it seemed to others, I will always remember that day in a delightful manner. It was also then that I realized that the outside world would never understand my son the way I do. The thoughts of others were somehow cured out of me on that day. I finally realized that I was not being punished, but that I was blessed. A little mischief went a long way on that
day!—Donna L.
(Editor: What impresses us most about this letter at Sizzle Bop! is that the bathroom is still a retreat in your house.)
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A CHANGE OF SCENERY
This morning I came up with the fun idea to build a huge tent/fort in the living room. They both did their work in it all morning with a lot of fun. They loved
it!—Karen
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MIKEY LOVES CHOICES
I knew of my son’s love for schedule and routine so I took an old white bed sheet and put the word's "Mikey's School" on one half of the sheet. On the other half I made little pockets with a subject written by each pocket. Then I took those clothes pins that look like dolls and painted them silver and gold (he loves the metallic colors). I put a clothespin in each pocket designating the subjects we would cover that day. A silver one means that I get to choose the activity, a gold one means he gets to pick the activity (I give him choices). There is usually one or two gold pins per day so he feels like he gets to be teacher once in a
while.—Dawn
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TRAMPS, BAGS, BALLS, BOOKS & BREAKS
I have a few tips to share with other families that seem to work well for my now 9 year old son. Of course we have a trampoline with safety net outside (a absolute must in my book!!!!!!), but we also have a mini-tramp inside for those long, cold winter months, which we couldn't live without. He can usually orally complete spelling and math much, much better bouncing on the mini tramp than anywhere else. We purchased a 80 pound punching bag, which also really helps him during breaks. Squishy balls of all textures and strengths help enormously in church, during long car rides and while I read orally to him. Books on tape at bedtime are a huge hit these days. These seem to help him so slow down and not just abruptly shut off, which can be hard for these guys. After listening to a book on tape, he listens to relaxing classical music combined with nature sounds, which are on CD and he just hits "repeat" and it plays all night long. My biggest tip is to take LOTS of breaks. I have been working with him for so long now that I ask him frequently "Do you need a break now?", as I want him to be able to "self-monitor" his tolerance, energy level, etc
—Joyce
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A MAD DASH THROUGH HISTORY
I was concerned that my son not just learn rote dates and dry facts so that he could do well on the 9-weeks History Final. I knew that with his incredible memory he could do just that but that I wanted him to "understand" the story and how each event related and/or foreshadowed another. So, I decided to do away with most of the "testing" last year and instead we read the chapters together and discussed them.... I challenged him to think and draw inferences, etc. Of course, when the end of the year came, I was a little apprehensive that should he need to, could he reasonably put together a time line of events and could he pass one of those "exams" if he needed to. I decided to give a "final" history exam. But not like your usual history exam. On pieces of paper, I wrote dates and corresponding facts ... or famous people and corresponding quotes, or places and corresponding facts, which we had studied in the past year. I cut these things out individually (separating person from quote, date from fact, etc.). We then played, "A MAD DASH THROUGH HISTORY".
Sitting in the middle of our family room, My son sat poised and ready. Dad held the History book (should any help be needed, son was allowed to run to the book and look up the answer with only gentle guidance from Dad). The objective was to "match" the quotes to the person who said them; the facts to the place and/or dates when and where they happened, etc. All of this was to be done as quickly as possible. (My husband held a stop watch in the other hand). [Side note: We have found that our son works better whenever he is challenged with a watch].
When I had successfully cut up each individual fact, I took all the scraps of paper to the middle of the room where my son sat ready. When my husband announced "Go!", I dropped the strips of paper and as they fluttered to the carpet, our son made a "mad dash" to read and assemble the with their correct counterparts using a single piece of transparent tape. Once assembled to his satisfaction, he brought all the strips to me for "check-in". He got "points" for having them correct and bonus points for time less than X amount. We broke the game into "rounds" ... using Dates/Facts as one round; Quotes/Person as another round and so on and so forth.
I am happy to report that my son did fabulously on this "test" and allayed any fears Mom might have had about her laid-back "discussion type" teaching method throughout the year. (The info really had "stuck")... and Dad was not needed AT ALL to provide the textbook a resource. (He amused and consoled himself with trying to find what page the particular fact was on!)... Some might see this as a lot of trouble for a history exam. We, however, see it as one more way to teach to the unique individual that is our son--- in a way that is both challenging and obtainable for him -- and which is realizing stellar academic results.
—Janis H.
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RECORDER TO THE RESCUE
One thing we found really worked well was to have my son read his readers on a cassette tape. My husband bought him a palm sized cassette recorder which he takes to a quiet place. He has filled 3 long tapes with his reading and never gets distracted, because he gets to push buttons while he's doing it. He loves to back it up and read something over again, to get it right (or just to push the buttons, I'm not sure!). I don't have to worry about him or listen to him or watch him fidget with this.
It has been a blessing to both of us. —Yolanda
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WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN
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