It's all very well and good to decide something, but it's better if you remember that the calendar pages keep turning no matter what's going on inside your head.
Halloween is tomorrow. Today it was time to carve the pumpkin. The kids spread newspaper over the dining room table and pored over our thin book of pattern ideas. I let them dream, and then I gently pointed out the practicality of the different designs, and how a simpler pattern would be more likely to turn out well. That spider design looks cool, but it's not so easy to get those thin lines straight. That cat silhouette looks neat, but what if we snap off its tail by accident? I didn't try to talk them out of anything, but I wanted to be realistic so they wouldn't be disappointed. I wanted this to be their project, not mine. They decided a traditional face would make them all happy. They found paper and each drew a design. They voted on their favorite, and I don't know how it happened, but the vote was unanimous in favor of one design and there was no fighting whatsoever. I had nothing to do with it - I wasn't even in the room. It was a Halloween miracle.
Today's weather was lovely and warm, in the 60s. We moved the paper and pumpkin outside to the patio and I turned the kids loose. The design was transferred using a washable marker. The pumpkin was gutted (everyone took a turn scooping seeds but I had the pleasure of scraping the strings out - it's all in the wrist, yick) and carved (by the winning designer) using the lovely little plastic handled carving tools I got on clearance one year. Do you know the ones? The best piece in the set looks like a miniature saw blade and works a treat.
And everyone was happy with the results.
Stay safe tomorrow, and have a happy All Hallows' Eve. Here's hoping your sugar hangover won't be too bad on All Saints' Day!
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