I knew something was afoot when I pulled up for the car line this afternoon. The head of school seemed even more enthusiastic than usual for the fleet of momma-mobiles queuing up to take delivery of the little angels in the schoolyard.

Upon further reflection, I felt like a fool for not realizing the motivations behind the million-dollar smile, especially when I rolled down the window to say hello. The scene, and the atmosphere, were buzzing like a home crowd in a Stanley Cup Finals game that has gone to sudden-death overtime. As we were waiting for my two to come to the car, this wonderful saint said:

"We discovered the whole school had a great Halloween."

Now, I'm not one of those parents who tries to have a detailed conversation with the school staff in the car line because it's not fair to them or the others behind me because we all want to get on with the rest of our day. However, this has stuck with me for almost seven hours since, and I think it has to do with her following comment:

"It took us a while to realize what was happening was Halloween the night before."

She shared that once that came to them, it helped them make sense of things and gave them a frame to look through for the rest of the day.

A cynic would say that, OF COURSE, a school with young children should expect everyone to have a bit of a buzz after Halloween. As for me, and I suspect many others, before I start down the "Captain Obvious" line of thinking on this matter, I must consider the following:

How many times do I miss something that I should see? How often do I get stressed out because of my limited powers of observation? How often do I bring stress to others because I forget these things?

What transformation might happen in my life or the life of those in my spheres of influence if I recall the lesson of the Halloween Hangover?