Advice From a Five Year Old.

The advent of Halloween season once more brings to the fore the question of how to decorate the pumpkins.  We're now getting close to a time when Angus and Martha will be carving their own, but to date we've adopted the novel approach of trying to represent their requests through my very questionable artistic skills.  This year we had B.A. Baracus and Tinkerbell, whereas last year it was The A Team van and Peppa Pig.  Prior to this it was much easier - ghosts, scary faces, witches and the like.  But this is because prior to last year Angus and I had not had a chat.

It was late October and we'd collected the Pumkins from the Granddads’ gardens (there's a story for another day).  The discussion started and while I expected the usual response, Martha said she wanted Peppa Pig.  So, rather than suggest that this was a little off-message and that she should consider something a bit more conventional, I thought that the straightforward linear form of a two-dimensional Peppa Pig would be relatively easy to translate onto a pumpkin.  But more than this, I thought that this would be something which she would just love. 

So I agreed.  "That's a great idea, Martha. You can have Peppa Pig on your pumpkin."

"What about you Angus?  What do you want on yours?"

"The A Team Van".

In simplistic terms, The A Team van is an instantly recognisable black van with a red stripe along the side.  Making it instantly recognisable carved on the side of a pumpkin, and in particular trying to replicate the red stripe, is not - in any sense - an easy task.  I shared this view with Angus.

"Aw but Martha's getting Peppa Pig and my favourite thing is the A Team van so why can’t I get that on my pumpkin?"

"Look, Angus.  It's just too difficult.  You can't have the A Team van because it would be too hard to carve it out and it wouldn't look right"

Now, at the point in time this discussion is going on I am a parent of five-and-a-half years experience.  As a result, I am fully aware that this emphatic statement would be open for further challenge and debate.  I am also clear that I will shortly divert the discussion in favour of something a little easier to carve.  What I did not anticipate, however, was what came next:

"How can you say it's too difficult when you've not even tried?"

"Sorry?"  I had heard him quite clearly, however I just hadn't expected a measured response from a five year old boy.

"How can you say it's too hard when you've not given it a go.  You always say to me that I can only say something is too difficult once I've tried it, and I'm not allowed to give up before I start…"

"Ehh…"

"So if you haven't started then you can't say it's too difficult"

And that's how I came to carve The A Team van onto the side of a pumpkin.  It is also, in no small measure, how I came to turning The EuroChampsChallenge from a daft idea into reality.