The Psychology of Pumpkin Carving

On the Sunday before Halloween, we carved pumpkins. The whole process gave me some insight into my personality and the personality of my children. 

Exhibit A. Owen's pumpkin

 It took everything we had to keep Owen from hacking his pumpkin to pieces with a knife. Instead, he had a little harmless carving knife that he was allowed to use. I carved out the eyes and mouth under his direction and then he spent a lot of time "adding" to his pumpkin. At one point it was covered in green marker, had tape all over it, and napkins stuffed in any hole he could manage to find.

Exhibit B: Eli's pumpkin

 Eli didn't really touch his pumpkin until I was finally ready to help him. Then he carefully explained to me the shape of eyes he wanted, the shape of the nose, and finally that he wanted it to have a happy smile. He made no additions.

Exhibit C: My pumpkin

 I used a template to carve my pumpkin. I taped it on, poked the holes in and carefully carved it out by following the pattern.

Exhibit D: Marcus's pumpkin

Like last year, we helped Marcus carve out a cool face and then he went to town carving the face away until there was nothing recognizable left. He carved and carved and carved. At one point I thought there wouldn't be any pumpkin left. He probably would have gone on carving all night, but we were all hungry for dinner.