One day, my class was working on a Social Studies unit about economics. We had been studying about needs vs. wants and the difference between consumers and producers. That brought us to our current assignment: to pretend that we were entrepreneurs opening our own business, a pet boarding business. We were discussing why the community might need such a business. Someone might be going in the hospital and unable to care for their pet for a little while. Someone might be traveling and couldn’t take their pet with them.
That led to a rather morbid tangent when a child brought up the point that you should never leave your dog alone in the car, especially on a summer day. Another child graphically added, “Yeah, you would cook your dog.” That prompted a third child, who has a particularly well-developed sense of humor for a six-year-old, to hold his index finger up in the air as he had a “Eureka” moment and announced to the class “And that, my friends, is how you get a hot dog!” (“Get it, Mrs. Baker? A hot dog? You cook it, and it’s a dog, and it’s hot?”)
Yes, my friend, I got it even without the explanation, because I was practically rolling on the floor with laughter. First graders rarely tell jokes that make sense, so when they do, it’s completely unexpected and all the more hilarious for it. It’s moments like this that keep me going. Hot diggity dog, indeed!