EBD Blog

I remember a conversation with Joanie when we were both working at a private school in southern California. We were discussing the effects of holidays on children. She contended that she wasn’t sure whether Halloween or Christmas was more difficult for them. Her analysis—sort of a low-level psychology—was that it was a toss-up. Halloween was hard because it allowed the kids to be freaky without getting in trouble for it, but they had to think about the sanctions that would befall them for behaving badly. Christmas was hard for them because they knew that they would only get presents if they had been good, and they had to wonder whether they had been good.

Only later I realized how strongly the analysis is founded on Western, Christian views of the world.