Pumpkin Problem

Today I was reminded that I've done some pretty silly, but not so unusual, things as a mom. A few days ago, parents of our school's 6th-graders were emailed and asked to send a small (less than 5 pounds) pumpkin to school today for their student to paint during the class "Harvest Party." (Incidentally, note the "political correctness" of the term "Harvest Party.") I read the email but filed it in the back of my mind.

After Mark left for school I again saw the email and realized that he didn't have a pumpkin. No problem. I went to the store to buy said pumpkin, but the smallest pumpkin there was over 12 pounds. Should I purchase the 12-pounder, go to another store hoping to find a smaller one, or come up with a different option, I asked myself. As I walked around the produce department with the not-so-smallish pumpkin in hand, I noticed that there were some perfect-sized pumpkins that were pre-painted. And expensive ($4.99 each). Realizing that I might not be able to find an unpainted, small pumpkin elsewhere, I bit the bullet and bought the pumpkin.

I was running out of time to get the pumpkin to school before the start of the party, so I bought a small scrub brush (which I rationalized I needed anyway) and some wipes and headed to my car to clean the paint off the pumpkin. I scoured and wiped and the paint disappeared. Voila! A perfect, clean pumpkin. And expensive.

I went to the school and put the pumpkin on Mark's desk while he was at recess. He won't know what a sacrifice I made for him. I may not be a perfect mom, but Mark has a perfect pumpkin. And an expensive one, too.

Post Script: When I returned to the school to catch the end of the party, I saw Mark's unpainted pumpkin on another student's desk. When I asked him about it, he said, "I didn't want it." So much for my efforts!