My Little Big Pumpkin

I am around two little boys all the time and I tend to forget that I am actually a grown up and they are quite small. It’s like when a dog or cat doesn’t realize that it’s not human, because it’s around people all the time and never around other animals.

This was especially true in the early days of motherhood for both sons. Those first couple months, moms typically don’t get out of the house that often, and people tend to not want to bother them in the house, so they are left with just the tiny ones. When Wookie was born, I became so used to tiny little faces that at the end of the day when my husband would come through the door and lean in for a kiss, I’d nearly shriek in horror at how huge his face was.

At Scooby’s Halloween parade this morning it hit me that he is still little. He may have a very big voice and a HUGE presence in this house, but he’s still my little dude.

Despite being little, kids at the age of three can have very large opinions, which might be why it’s easy to forget their size. We didn’t talk much about Halloween. I knew they were supposed to have a parade at school, but I figured I’d come up with something very last minute. Last minute happened in Walmart yesterday afternoon when we were running errands.

“So Scooby, what do you want to be for Halloween?”

“I want to be a pumpkin.”

“A pumpkin? Not a ninja or a pirate?”

I’d decided two years ago I wouldn’t be buying costumes, but at this point in the game, a $13 ready-made was sounding like a very convenient choice. It didn’t even hit me until I got home that the parade was the next day and I didn’t have time to make it that evening.

“No, I want to be a pumpkin.”

“Okay, let’s go see what they have in the craft section.”

Well thank goodness for discount felt at Walmart and the ONE glue stick I had at home. I put him down for a nap and then sat down at the computer to figure out how to turn my kid into a pumpkin. By the time I got the main bit assembled, I dragged him out of bed to try on his blocky draw-string orange felt sack to figure out where to put arm holes. This led to streaming tears because he was trapped in orange felt, which not only was too long, but he was terrified his friends coming over later that evening would see. I shortened it up, re-strung the drawstring and took him out front for a picture.

More tears.

It turns out that just being a pumpkin wasn’t what he had in mind. He needed a face, just like the $1 plastic jack-o-lantern. Yessir. On it.

With a face and a second fitting, my little man’s tears dried up and he was all smiles and super excited about his costume.

It’s amazing what parents will do to make these tiny little people smile. But those smiles, when they come are big enough to light up the whole room.