The Littlest Hitler

At the beginning of Ryan Boudinot's story, "The Littlest Hitler" I thought that it was completely wrong that the dad was supporting this costume and helping the child with it. Then, the author seemed to start writing with a good sense of humor as it went on, which lightened the mood on the subject but was still a bit uncomfortable. I wondered what inspired the author to write a story about this topic. Was it an experience that they had, something they heard about, or something completely random?

A story from my childhood that seems similar to this piece is when I slipped in the hall on my way to get a drink of water in second grade. I fell, screamed, and was crying until my teacher came out to see what had happened. Not to mention, she brought the whole class with her. I was very humiliated but I held myself together, even though others were being disrespectful.