Good job Hippo

1 part

I am not a singer. I do hum a lot. I have never participated in choir. Every once in a while I sing along to something at home.  Sometimes I think I can sing…

Being a teacher changes your outlook on things. You learn things, know things, come to understand things. You become willing to do things. Your own sense of self becomes distorted and you live this sort of out of body “teacher” life. “Oh, that wasn’t me, that was Mr. Swanson. I would never do that!”  Yup.

I have learned that kids appreciate it if you step out of your zone and go for it. I have also learned that when I step out of that zone folks of all ages seem to think I’m fairly entertaining. Knowing those two things can lead to danger, or at least potential embarrassment, for “Mr. Swanson”.

I have sung the school song at assemblies. I have sung Frosty and Rudolph and some other songs at Christmas with other teachers. I have participated in assembly contests and in Flash Mob dances… and no, despite my Russian folk dance training, I truly can’t dance. Thankfully these things are usually group activities. It reduces the impact and trepidation.

This year without a thought I signed up to sing “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”. And then I thought. and then I looked up the lyrics and watched the video and was like… man, I don’t know if I can carry that tune the whole way. Trouble.  Maybe I should cut it short? There’s that interlude part where Gayla Peevey does her weird Hippo dance. Hmmmm no.

I then devised a plan to play a karaoke version on my phone while singing it… I practiced.  I learned to sway a little to help me keep the rhythm, but then there’s that part where she slows down.  What the heck!!?? Hmm no… I’ll just stare at my screen. No karaoke.

-flashback-

3 years ago at Christmas during Covid I got the Hippo song stuck in my head.  I was singing it everywhere. Katie was both entertained and annoyed. And when she asked me what I wanted for Christmas I sang the song to her. Annoying, right?

So on Christmas I got a present. Katie had found a picture of a hippo, printed it, put it on some cardboard, made a stand and gave it to me with a nice note on the back. Most Christmas presents don’t make me smile. This one did. 

-today-

So, I got my cardboard hippo cutout (it lives in my classroom), attached it to a lanyard and hung it around my neck (like a gangsta!), stuck a small stuffed hippo in my Santa Hat and, with the faux confidence only a teacher can muster, belted out the entire “I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” all alone on the mic to the entire school at morning assembly.  But I wasn’t alone! Much to my surprise about ¼ of the students know the lyrics and they all sang along with me during the chorus. It was great. It was fun. The sixth grade class was particularly helpful. We were cruising and the we got to the weird interlude part… I do not do the hippo dance. no.

… the pause caused the student government kids to come forward. They thought they were up. I told them “No, I’m not done” at which point I totally lost the rhythm… So I just spoke the “Mom says a hippo would eat me up but then my teacher says a hippo is a vegetarian” part. Thankfully I got back into the rhythm and finished it off properly…  extra “eses” and everything.   Phew.  

Afterwards several adults wanted to talk to me about the song and how they love it, or just heard it for the first time or were recommending some other version of it that they thought was great. The best thing about the comments I received today was that no one just said “good job” or “well done”.  The majority of comments - “that was fun”.  I like fun. 

In my conversations I got to tell the story of my cardboard hippo a few times. It made me smile. Thanks Katie.