Parenting 2.0

Life lessons from toddlers: little things make them so happy.

Just seeing all the pumpkins, not even buying one, was an exciting event in itself. And once we actually bought a pumpkin and brought it home, Niko excitedly viewed it out the window for days. Of course he had no idea what lie ahead – the gutting, carving and lighting of the Jack O’lantern. But in his two year old mind, just having a pumpkin in our yard was cause for daily glee, as well as seeing all the pumpkins scattered about the neighbourhood as we drove home from daycare. I’m not sure if you could say anticipation was building, because his realm of experience doesn’t allow for that, but definitely his excitement was mounting, as he noticed more and more pumpkins on people’s front porches and the odd ghost lingering around in a tree.

So pumpkin carving day arrived. We brought the pumpkin in and asked him what type of face we should carve on it: happy? sad? scary? Three times we asked him and three times he wanted a sad face. But Daddy vetoed that, saying Niko didn’t really know what he wanted and that he wanted Niko’s first Jack O’lantern experience to be a good one. So a happy face it became. Niko had a great time, gutting and watching the carving. The only glitch? Once he saw the candle he couldn’t resist blowing it out – as he’d done at his birthday party. So we re-lit it, turned out the lights and let the magic happen!

I’ll blow this thing out yet…