My last post headlined in Latin; this time I’m going Español. To be clear, The Day of the Dead is not Halloween. For starters, today kicks off Día de los Muertos and it is more of a two-day celebration widely embraced in Latin American culture. It’s not about the spooky but more about remembering lost loved ones. The first day is believed to allow the spirits of children to visit their families. The second day is for the adults and elderly to visit. All Hallows’ Eve [Halloween] roots way, way back to Ireland and Scotland and tends to be more of a secular holiday.
Last night was the start of some return to previous patterns as we welcomed trick or treaters. They came in waves and overall attendance was still low compared to peak years. But it was still nice to see kids and adults making their rounds in silly or scary costumes enjoying a time-honored tradition. My wife even got a sweet little note from one of her students wishing her a “super duper Happy Halloween.”
By the time I got home our neighborhood streets had swelled with cars transporting the best of our future we have to offer. I’ve blogged about our newest canine member several times before and we are a dog family; this Halloween was Hope’s first real test encountering multiple visitors.
So, she kind of failed ☹. At first when the doorbell would ring, she would go berserko and I would grab her collar which led to even more unpleasant gag reflexes because she kept pulling while I was trying to just hang on to her. Then I put her body harness on, and it was a game changer. I was amazed at how quickly she could be conditioned to just chill or relax. And then I had a lightbulb moment.
And granted while my internal lightbulbs are incandescent and not LED, I can still push more than 40 watts! This weekend my wife and I allowed ourselves to indulge in the superficial about our dog – we paid for the dog DNA report just to prove how royal our four-legged friend was. But what I learned as I held on to our Hope while my wife passed out candy was how protective she is of our family. As the kids came to the door and I held her with some restraint, she relaxed and became less tense.
Trick or treating showed me a new dimension in our lab – she becomes super anxious with outsiders but calms quickly with those we invite in. I think I have a better appreciation of how teachers must feel with outside visitors. I’m not suggesting they don’t want any, but this Halloween seemed to connect some dots. Our dog Hope has clearly staked out some protective boundaries – why would we think teachers don’t do the same? And it magnifies as each marking period comes to a close. Assigning grades is not just an evaluation of student progress but often an internalized measure by teachers on their effectiveness. It’s a natural response when you’re tasked with growing kids and I’m sure every parent can relate.
I’ve decided to create a new day of observance and in my best attempt at using Google Translate to honor my own roots in Cajun parlance, “Jou Vivan An” will now come to be known as the Day of the Living! It celebrates teachers each and every day school is in session! What if and why not?
What if? Why Not? 