I have a bad attitude about pumpkin patches

"Pumpkins round, cover ground
Vines twirl, children whirl
Cool breeze blows the leaves
Happy shouts are all about
Time to pick a pumpkin out!"
                 --Happy Halloween Curious George

I love fall, the crisp leaves, sweaters, the excuse to bake and crockpot, sip warm drinks, and be downright cozy.  It's also nice that my birthday happens around this time as well.  What I don't love is being cold, wet, muddy, no place to sit, and surrounded by crowds.  Crowds ruin the simplistic beauty and wonder that is fall.  Case in point: the pumpkin patch.

Visiting the pumpkin patch is supposed to be fun.  It never is. It is stressful and muddy and awkward.  Balancing the needs and desires of overly excited children adds to the difficulty.  Nothing says fun like convincing a young person to use a muddy honey bucket.

This weekend we went to the pumpkin patch after taking last year off.  We were supposed to be meeting our PEPs group, but somewhere along the way I messed up and got the day wrong.  I was feeling optimistic about the weather and didn't put rainboots on everyone or make Eileen wear a real coat.  Fatal mistake.  It was cold, breezy, and wet, and worse very crowded.  We found ourselves in overflow parking.

Despite my increasingly bad attitude and the anger of a toddler denied a very fast, dangerous slide, we did have some fun.  I ate a very yummy, warm, fresh apple cider donut.  The kids loved the corn bin.  Robin stayed close to the exit.  Eileen and Linus played together!!  They took turns burying one another.

I'm still finding kernels of corn around the house several days later, but it was totally worth it.  Even though we had paid for all the fun and exciting activities, including the corn maze, we ducked out after selecting our pumpkins.  We were cold, wet, and tired.  It was crowded.  We were done.

I know that farmers need to make money.  I applaud their efforts to make the selection of a pumpkin on par with a visit to farm meets amusement park.  I think if I'm going to visit a pumpkin patch again, it is going to need to be on a weekday.  I love letting my kids experience the simple life, just maybe not with several hundred other people at the same time.

We waited a couple days to carve pumpkins. Dave was working late so I put Robin to bed before beginning the process.  My kids refuse to have any part in the scooping out pumpkin guts part of the experience.  I let Linus design his own pumpkin, use a sharpie to draw it, and then handed him a carving tool.  He was so excited.  I was glad to have one less pumpkin to deal with. 

Eileen had talked for weeks about getting white pumpkin, also known as a ghost or cinderella pumpkin.  I was so relieved the patch had a few.  I was impressed and surprised when she chose an alien design.  Eileen was not ready to carve, but she was ready for more responsibility.  I handed her a puncture carving tool and then all of the Mr. Potato head pumpkin parts and gave her free rein.  She did awesome.

I free handed a third pumpkin.  Giving over control and allowing less than perfect pumpkins was not as hard as I thought it would be.  I guess it means I am growing as a person.  That or I am just getting lazier.

Three Little Pumpkins sitting on a counter.

 

I realize I've become a bit curmudgeonly in my old age regarding fun and pumpkins.  I promise I won't just get a plug-in jack-o-lantern.  It is cool to know that if I can just convince the kids to touch pumpkin guts, I can recuse myself from pumpkin carving. I can see it now--me in a cozy sweater and slippers, sipping a pumpkin spice latte, the sound of rain outside, just watching as children labor away at carving pumpkins purchased at the local grocery store. Ahhhh.