I don't know if I've mentioned that the Giant Baby is obsessed with Halloween. He watches Halloween videos all year round, has a battery operated Jack'O'Lantern as a night light, and wants to be Jack from Nightmare before Christmas when he grows up. So it was only a matter of time before we got nagged into making a Jack'O'Lantern.
It's not a Pinterest worthy, work of art. It wasn't well planned and we didn't try very hard. But it's the first real one anyone in our house had seen in person, we still thought it was pretty cool.
But the reality of it was gross. Hollowing out the pumpkin, I managed to break a spoon and get pumpkin under my thumbnail which bled for two days. The Giant Baby asked for a sad pumpkin, I was not prepared how anguished it would start to look after a few days. And a week later, we've had to throw it in the bin because it was soft, and gross, and smelly, and full of mold! Hindsight says "Der! Of course it is." But I really didn't expect that at all.
Pumpkins are yummy but as decoration they are gross.
Wow! I grew up with carving out pumpkins for Halloween, and we generally carved pumpkins with our kids every Halloween. We actually have four pumpkins sitting out on our front porch waiting to be carved.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter and son-in-law got married on Halloween because they love it so much.
Until the last few years nobody in Australia really did Halloween. Growing up my sister and I always wanted to do Halloween stuff, but our parents would just say "We're not American." So we have zero experience with this stuff.
DeleteAlready had to promise to do a new pumpkin this weekend but with the weather the way it is, it's still going to rot fairly quickly.
That take on Halloween as American is interesting, since a lot of it relates back, rather vaguely now, to Ireland and Samhain and all that. I suppose America really expanded it waaaayyyy beyond its roots. :D Going out trick or treating is also such a deeply ingrained part of our culture for generations; I can't imagine not having it!
DeleteFor that matter, there's an Agatha Christie book called Hallowe'en Party from 1969. It takes place in England, and there's a lot that is relatable to an American Halloween, like witches and bobbing for apples and fairy lights in carved out gourds. So I'm super surprised that Australia didn't have anything.
It occurred to me to wonder how you even have pumpkins at all, considering it is spring for you there. ? Will you bake the seeds from the pumpkin after you carve it?
I've never even had a trick or treater knock on my door! This year we can't really do trick or treating because we live above a shop so we don't have neighbours. I'm thinking about maybe sneaking downstairs and giving each shop on our block something to give the little boy, then taking him trick or treating to them but might just skip it and hopefully next year we'll be somewhere we can do it properly.
DeleteI'm guessing the pumpkins have been frozen for six months or they were imported. The one I bought cost $20 which seems expensive to me, but then I don't usually buy whole pumpkins so that might just be what they cost.
I'm going to have to Google how to bake pumpkin seeds and give it a shot.
Hi Rachael,
ReplyDeleteI guess that's a good enough reason for not carving Halloween pumpkins … it's all a load of rot!! LOL!!
I must admit reading your comment above, my parents were of the same view, so like you I have never bothered with it even when my kids were little. But of course now I am a big kid, I love it!!
Hugs,
X
I actually feel really stupid that it never occurred to me it would rot! It was a shock.
DeleteAnd I agree, who cares if it's not "Australian", it's fun!