Not Another Pumpkin Patch Trip

What kind of mother am I? My five year old is asking me if he can go to the pumpkin patch with his class this year, because last year he couldn't go. "Please," he begs. "Remember mommy, remember I couldn't go last year for some reason. Why couldn't I go?" I pretend to think about it for a moment. Oh yeah! Last year I was thrilled when I found the pumpkin patch trip conflicted with my then six and ten year olds minimum day at school. There was no way I could go to the pumpkin patch and be able to pick my daughters up at school. My husband was out of town. I didn't want to call upon a friend or I used that as an excuse. It was a "no can do" situation. I just kept my son at home for the day. I never let on that going on another pumpkin patch field trip (number eight or nine) would have probably led me one step closer to the sanitarium.

By kid number three and having annual pre-school and kindergarten pumpkin patch trips, I had been way too many times to find any enjoyment from pumpkin patch trips with child number three. I will not even think about child number four. The good news is my son can go this year, because I do not have to escort him! Yeah, thanks to other willing mothers, he will have a chaperon! In the kindergarten class there does not have to be a 1:1 ratio. I am so happy I don't have to take another tour of the corn maze or go on another hayride (which usually results in having an itchy backside.) And furthermore, I won't have to stand around while my child examines what seems like a thousand pumpkins before deciding on which one will come home and rot by the kitchen sink because we never get around to carving it.

I really am a bad mother at times. Did I ever get excited about the pumpkin patch? I think I did. I seem to remember the excitement of bringing my first child on her first trip to the pumpkin patch, but now I am just a cynical mother of four who would rather be doing other things than standing around in a field of pumpkins. However, I am glad my son can go without me so he can have pumpkin patch memories and hopefully find the pumpkin of his dreams!