The Magic Pumpkin

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I am going with 4-yo's preschool to the Pumpkin Patch. We did a similar visit last year. I'm not the rookie this time round, and that's such a good feeling. I know what is going to happen (ooh, tempting Providence there), I know where it is, I know what activities will be on offer, I know what to wear, and I'm not having to ask anyone any idiot questions. In fact, another mom asked ME whether we leave at the usual preschool start time, or whether she needs to be there early. I replied from my superior knowledge, and then had to re-read the newsletter to make sure I hadn't led her astray. You get my drift, though. It is very nice not to be the first-timer.

It was this time last year that I lamented that there was no mythical story or character relating to the Pumpkin Patch (and was duly corrected in the comments). Maybe 7-yo's Second Grade teacher feels the same way, however, because tonight, his homework was to write a story entitled The Magic Pumpkin. She had said that it had to be at least 5 sentences long, which, as any self-respecting Second Grader knows, means 5 sentences long. The exercise reminded me of those memes that go round, where you have to say what you did today in seven words, and that kind of thing. I'm glad that Second Grade is carefully equipping my son with the skills he'll need to be a future blogger. Anyway, this is the story he wrote:

The Magic Pumpkin

Once there was a
magic pumpkin.

It was small.

It got bigger and
bigger and bigger and

then it gave me
a brand new T.V!

And it did my
homework for me!!!

The pernickety among you will be saying to yourselves "that's only 4 sentences", and I can't deny that is technically true. But if I could scan the original manuscript in here, you would see that the layout - which I've tried to replicate above - clearly indicates the intention of 5. Invention first, grammar and spelling later - I think that's the way forward with creative writing.

Speaking of which, this is my 100th post, by the way.