This is my 4th Halloween as a parent and I've learned something valuable each year. I always enjoyed Halloween as a kid and so far I've enjoyed it as a parent too. Today our neighbors knocked on the door saying they would be carving pumpkins in the courtyard if we

wanted to join. We grabbed our pumpkin and headed out. As soon as my 3 1/2 year old son saw the "child-safe" saws, knives and stabbers he was excited. I must have said "please don't stab the pumpkin while mommy has her hands inside" about 12 times despite deftly dodging with the pumpkin from table to bench, left, right and back again. I hadn't had a great day up to this point and my patience was wearing thin. I finally got the hole in the top cut, the inside scooped out, and was ready to work with him on a design. "What kind of face should we draw Alberto?" No response. I should say no verbal response. What he did do was grab the marker and start randomly drawing all over the beautiful orange pumpkin. This was my first let-go moment of the day. I love those moments when you simply realize it doesn't matter what the kid chooses to do - it's not dangerous, it's not disobedient, it's just not what I had in mind. Okay, I let him draw all over the pumpkin. After several minutes I asked if he'd like his pumpkin to have a truck carved in it - BINGO! He was thrilled. So that's what we did. After it was dark and we lit it up with a candle inside, he was beside himself with joy! A glowing truck pumpkin! He ran to three neighbors' houses to share his pride. Met with such excitement, our neighbors appropriately oohed and aahed.

I wonder what I will learn next year.