Earlier today, my daughter Gigi informed me that I was invited to a meeting, which was about to commence, to discuss a pumpkin. In some households, it may be odd for an 8yr old to call a meeting, but Gigi has been to her mom's office a bunch, and .. well.. lets just say Gigi marches to her own beat. I knew from experience that if I didn't drop everything and report to the conference table ( also the kitchen table ), I ran the risk of this infraction coming up in my year-end review. Gigi is a sweet and gentle soul, but when she is in "business mode", she is tough as nails in her assessments come review time. After confirming the meeting would be pajama-casual, I made my way across the room - after all, I have been on disability for a month and miss the day to day grind. This could be good for me.
Seeing my son Jimmy already sitting at the table gave me great relief. Jimmy always looks out for me in these type meetings, and covers for me if I get confused by Gigi's charts and presentations. During the " Who lost my Little Pony " meetings of Spring 2017, Jimmy was able to help me navigate the flowcharts before I made a complete fool of myself. At the "Daddy Has to get rid of all Bees" meetings throughout the summer, Jimmy was a sympathetic ear when I requested budget funds to cover the cost of wasp spray, or at least a glove to prevent more stings. I arrived to the table and Jimmy offered me a chair and a bite of his pop-tart - I was immediately at ease.
Gigi explained that her and Jimmy wanted help carving a pumpkin, and that they were still deciding on how it should ultimately look. I suggested that maybe we could get two pumpkins and they could each design their own, to which Gigi replied " But Jimmy and I want to design one together, so we both helped make it ". Honestly, I'm a big softy, and when they say things like this, it makes me melt. I'm constantly amazed at how well they get along, and how much they appreciate one another. This was going to be a great meeting.
Jimmy pulled out a bunch of papers that contained sketches they had been working on all morning. They each were drawing Jack-o-lantern mouths, eyes, noses, and then comparing to see which would be the best fit for the final project. One by one they would present and make the case as to why their mouth or eyes would be good for the final pumpkin. I didn't do much talking, as I was enjoying listening to the back and forth, which was mostly supportive and always polite and respectful. There was much debate that some of Jimmy's mouths might be "too scary" for their younger cousin Piper to see. Ultimately, Jimmy agreed with Gigi on this even though he thought his "dinosaur vampire mouth" was "way sick". Gigi also compromised with a Jimmy jack-o-lantern mouth that was "kinda scary" but also "kinda funny because it has fangs but they are smiley". Jimmy agreed with Gigi that the jack-o-lantern didn't need a nose, and they both picked out eyes that were deemed " mostly scary , but not too scary"
The next item on the agenda was an action item for me: Draw the chosen features on the pumpkin. I had explicit instructions to use pencil and that I "Had to match it exactly". Try imagining that pressure. Now imagine it with two very excited 8yr olds hanging over each shoulder as you attempt to recreate their sketches - not on a flat piece of paper, but on a protruded , imperfect, spherical gourd. To my delight, both kids were thrilled with my first attempt and I even elicited a "Dadda Rules" chant that ended in big hugs. This was turning into the best meeting ever. Neither of the kids wanted to do the carving because they were afraid they would "ruin" the pumpkin. I encouraged them to try a little section and I would handle the intricate parts of the mouth.
When it was finally my turn to take over the carving, Gigi and Jimmy decided that they wanted to be surprised by the end result, so they excused themselves from the conference table and went off to play. Gigi reminded me that I had a deadline of "when Mommy gets home" to be finished, as they wanted to surprise Doreen. No pressure, I got this. In the end, the kids and Doreen were thrilled with the final result, and I was just happy to be part of what I hope will be a pleasant memory for them. Seeing them work together so well and get excited about holidays, sharing, and spending time together made for a solid, rewarding Sunday for me.
