If you’ve ever been to a pumpkin patch, you are familiar with a vast overwhelming pasture of promise. You approach the patch with the belief that the perfect pumpkin is there. You have to put in the work, but it’s there.
Yet, your search uncovers pumpkins that are overripe or not quite ripe.
Then you find the pumpkin with the perfect shape, size, color and you lift it victoriously – only to find that it is rotten on the other side. Or marred by the imprint of a foot or collision with the ground.
The paths in the pumpkin patch are aplenty. You can follow the well worn or drift into the unbeaten paths. Often you have to travel both in your quest to find the pumpkin suitable for you.
It takes a lot of walking, lifting, looking, evaluating and repeating.
Eventually, you find the proper pumpkins to purchase.
That’s kind of like parenthood. It isn’t easy. There are many paths you can take. And just like those paths are sometimes riddled with rotten pumpkins and promising possibilities, parenthood is filled with tips and advice. Some suggestions are gold. Some don’t fit your needs. Some are rotten. But only you can decide what fits and what doesn’t.
And just like you may second guess your choice in pumpkins, you may second guess choices you make in parenthood.
Despite the stress and doubt – you can’t lose sight of the fact that you are in a pumpkin patch and all the inherent beauty, joy, and excitement that comes with it.
Yes, parenthood is a pumpkin patch. You don’t know what you’re going to get. But don’t shortchange the journey with the aspirations of the destination.
After all, it could be worse. You could be lost in a corn maze.
A version of this first appeared on Tales from the Poop Deck. Photo by James Wheeler on Unsplash.
Leave a Reply