Non, je ne regrette rien
Every time this commercial comes on I become transfixed; I stop everything I am doing, take in a loud, dramatic gasp of air and proclaim , “I love this commercial!” and pounce like a startled cat onto the couch; if I am already sitting on the couch I do the same thing; full circle spaz.
The first time this happened in front of my father I saw him shake his head with his eyes closed and he said “my daughter, my calm, emotionless daughter - get chocolate if you want, you know where I keep it.”
But it wasn’t the chocolate; that’s not what did it.
After the hundredth time ( I also do not exaggerate at all) I reacted this way in front of my husband I saw him looking at me with his eyes in pensive slits and he said, “Jessie, you are not going to fly off to Paris in a blue dress are you?”
But it wasn’t the dress; that’s not what did it.
It was not her Peter Pan, sylph-like, untethered existence that tugged at my heart and made me teary and overly histrionic; nor was it the chocolate. I had plenty of that hidden in my freezer and in many other areas of the house.
So what was it? I knew for a fact it wasn’t the French. Mon Professeur, after my senior year in high school, could not wait to say AU REVOIR to MOI!
This past week I attended a conference called “Building the Heart of Successful Schools.” The keynote speaker, breakout sessions and closing speaker all focused around a handful of very important concepts - how to reach students who experienced trauma, how trauma affects their life and learning and how we as teachers need to take care of ourselves so we can take care of our students and our own families simultaneously. A local Madisonian, Jason Kotecki, introduced to us a concept called “Adultitis.” He had us log onto his website and take the adultitis test. My diagnosis was Stage 1 Adultitis; thankfully this stage of the disease can be easily treated by more play and less “Adulting.” All 450 of us teachers, nurses, counselors and therapists laughed after receiving our diagnoses; yet, this funny, creative and insightful man ended his speech with this somewhat heavy message, “Live everyday as if it could be your last because we do not know what tomorrow may bring. Wake up tomorrow with no regrets.”
Seven year old me understood this all too well.
Then it dawned on me, I got it!! The feline inside wanted to jump out of my seat and wave my hand and say, ‘Wait! I get it now, I get why I love the Dove commercial so much!!’ I also wanted to keep my job so I sat still, behaved myself and let this ‘AHA’ moment sink in.
The message of the Dove commercial is very clear, even if you did not pay attention in French class.
When your child asks, “Mom, can you come here? I want to show you something.”
What can possibly be more important?
