Trick or Treating
Once again, Batman stalked the lonely streets of Fresno last night. Several Batmen, actually. Bevies of Batmen. Hundreds of hippies. Thousands of thugz. Ninjas to the nth. A plethora of princesses. As usual, most of the parents were more into it than the kids were. And I was so thankful, as I always am, for the safety of my neighborhood.James was awesome this year. He walked up to each door by himself, rang the bell, and waited for an answer. He had to be reminded to say anything the first few times, but then he got it. The door would open and he would say, "Trick or treating!" We tried to correct him at first, but then we just laughed each time and enjoyed the forming memory. He said thank you almost every time and, walking away from the door, would pick out his new treasure and hold it up to us, making an "O" with his mouth and raising his eyebrows. The treat was just watching him.
I was happy to see fewer teenagers this year and almost no "out of the neighborhood, just driving in to take your free candy" kids. Also, apparently, the robot costume has been retired.
Robot costume story: A few years back, one of the trick-or-treaters showed up in a home made robot costume comprised mostly of cardboard boxes placed in strategic locations. There had been a lot of effort put into it, including a slot in the chest which slid open to receive the candy. We were so impressed and commented about it the rest of the night. Sadly, the costume returned the next year, banged up and with mushed corners. By the third straight year, the robot costume had become the dented cardboard box costume. It was unrecognizable. The slot barely opened and was tilted to the side. The poor kid inside walked with a definite tilt as the boxes barely fit together anymore. I don't think he wore the costume so many years out of poverty...I think he was just really attached to it.
The downside to Halloween, from a teacher's perspective, is that the kids are wired! And when it falls on a Monday, they are wired all the live long week. The upside is that James only gets a couple of pieces of candy each day. The others must somehow be consumed before they go bad. What are moms and dads for?
Post-Halloween Postscript: Watch the space to the right for an exciting change in the days to come! Oooooh...bated breath...what could it be?
posted by Thurman8er @ 9:27 AM
3 Comments:
How about this for “Halloween Hell” for a teacher – Having cafeteria duty in the morning the day after Halloween. Oh, I forgot to mention that at our school, the only students that must come into the cafeteria before school starts are those without a “good conduct” sticker on their student I.D. for the first nine weeks! That’s right, I get the hyped up knuckleheads in the morning.
On the flip side, myself and the other two poor suckers, I mean teachers assigned to this duty (for the whole first semester) mead out a little justice by forcing the kids to sit in assigned seats as they enter the cafeteria. As one student put it, “This sucks.” My response was something along of the lines of, “Yes, being in here should “suck.” Perhaps it will motivate you to go from “sucks” to “satisfactory” in the conduct category so you can avoid this situation that “sucks.””
Reminds me of one of my teaching mantras – “Get them before they get you.” Hoo-ah!
ibmrvqpg (Is it me or is the Word Verification getting more "lettery?")
My fellow blones, I give my permission to use the concept of like terms on the word verification.
2
wbcn (my attempt at typing in "c-squared")
Halloween here is definitely witchy. No dressing up as a beat-up robot. Or Spidey. No. It's got to be black, it's got to be dark, it's got to be scarey. And they don't say trick or treating. Of course, they don't come to our place, 'cause we live in a CHURCH.
Personally, I still like Halloween and I still like candy. I've just had to give it up. xuvnda
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