One day a week the 9-year-old next door comes over for the evening when his mom has a night class.
This week I asked him if he wanted to play a card game or did he want to carve one of the pumpkins that has been a source of fun recently.
We laid out newspapers on the floor and gathered up a bunch of carving knives.
A loyal reader recently sent me a comment on the Sow There! blog (www.norcalblogs.com/sowthere) about a pumpkin she had gleefully carved. You carve the eyes and other optional features as usual and then carve a huge, gaping mouth. Instead of composting the pumpkin guts, you arrange the guts on the porch, coming out of the gaping mouth as if the pumpkin is heaving its guts out.
This was not my original idea. But of course I took full credit when introducing the idea to the boy.
His eyes lit up and I felt somewhat like an Auntie action figure. I can only hope I can keep improvising and appear original and fun when he is 15 and starts to think Im as dull as Melba toast.
My niece went through that phase when she would draw black dots on her forehead and mope around the house saying you dont understand me.?
Diving in
Tommy carved the first eye, but I was hesitant to give Leif the knives. So I let the 9-year-old draw the outline of the remaining eye, nose and mouth with a felt pen. We carved off the top of the pumpkin and were in heaven, scooping out the slimy guts and putting them into the colander.
After separating the pulp from the seeds we enjoyed placing the slimy strands so they billowed out of the mouth of the pumpkin.
We decided there needed to be more guts and took some of the white flesh from cutting out theeye-holes and mouth and mixed them up in the Cuisinart.
When his mom got home she knew something was up because we had placed a candle in the puking pumpkin and flashed off all the house light when she pulled up in her truck.
Leify was happy and mom cracked up when she came up to the porch to bring him home.
I was happy too.
Thanks to the reader who gave this suggestion.
Of course, you can only display the pumpkin like this for a short time or youll get fruit flies.
We kept some of the goop in a plastic bag in the fridge so we can do it again before the pumpkin turns into a rotted mess.
On a related topic
At a barbecue we had recently, Leifs best friend Joseph started hurling. We thought the kids were just trying to gross us out, but it turns out he was actually sick.
That Monday I got the bug and stayed home from work. So I shouldnt have been surprised when Tommy came down with it.
This week friends and I were driving home from a day-long meeting at the Board of Supervisors. We had all sorts of things to catch up on, nothing of which had to do with the meeting, and decided to grab a bite to eat and gab.
I made a courtesy call to Tommy to tell him I was back in town and would be coming home a little late.
Oh, OK,? he said, his voice sounding gravely and that tone that sounds like your puppy just got hit by a car.
Ill be here,? he said. How long do you think youll be??
You sound weird,? I said. Did you just get up from a nap or something??
No. Ive been sick all day. I havent been able to keep anything down.?
Oh, boo-boo,? I said, a little embarrassed I was talking baby talk to my boyfriend with my friends in the car.
Do you need me to pick you up anything from the store? Some 7-Up or some crackers and soup??
I got some gingerale from Bonnie next door. She didnt want me to come get it because of germs and just placed it on our front porch.?
Well,? I hesitated. Do you need me to come home? I wont be long. We just want to gossip a bit.?
There was a pause, that sort of pause that clearly conveys that yes, I was supposed to come home. I was supposed to come home, pat his head, fluff the pillows and stand witness if his stomach churned and he needed to run to the bathroom again.
No. Thats OK. You just go and have fun. Ill be here,? he said, as if choking out each word was the equivalent of labor pains.
OK,? I said as quickly and as brightly as possible. Ill be home as soon as Im done.?
My friend Jasmine and I were chatting about this, how men like to be mommied when theyre sick. She said she has a friend with a 4-year-old who she visits frequently. When the little boy is sick she makes a big deal over him, hugs him and coos and pats his head.
Lately when she has visited, she says hello to the boy and he rubs his tummy and pouts.
How are you feeling? Are you feeling OK,? Jasmine asks.
No, not really,? he says until she comes over and checks his forehead and gives him a few coos.
Sometimes, I like when grown men act like little boys.
