How To Enjoy a Watermelon

As we get ready to start back to another school year, I am enjoying looking back over one of my favorite stories from this past summer.

Summertime and watermelon, what better combinations exist? 

But let’s back up…to the day before….when I took 4 of our 5 kids to the grocery store with me.  It all gets cranked up in the parking lot with which buggy we are going to use; the enormous car buggy, the less enormous car buggy, or a regular buggy which really is all we need.  Due to the rain and the car buggies being all wet, we chose to use a regular buggy (whew!).  

We then made our way through the produce section when the kids spotted it…the watermelon! Now let me tell you, the last watermelon I bought, I cut just the way they like it, and I found the biggest storage container imaginable to store it in.  After cutting it, they each had one piece, then placed the enormous container in the garage fridge, and that was that.  No one ever mentioned the watermelon ever again until three weeks later when we wanted to put something else in the garage fridge. And there it was…the rotten and forgotten sliced and stored watermelon!

But that was then and this is now and they want another one! So naturally, I caved in and bought it.

That new watermelon sat on the counter for a full 24 hours before I could bring myself to mess with it.  It was just big and sticky and difficult, and as far as I was concerned, they weren’t going to eat it anyway.

But I still cut it.

Actually, I only cut half of it.  I cut off the rind for easier storage, and used a smaller container that would fit in the kitchen fridge.

But since I only cut half of it, there was a big ol half a watermelon sitting on my counter.

Our 13 year old had been doing this thing where she imitates mine and my husband’s reprimands…and it is hilarious!

From the kitchen I heard, “And what is this? What exactly is happening here? YOU need to get in here now and clean this up! Do you think this watermelon is just going to clean itself?”

She went on and on and I laughed and laughed.

Later that day, that big ol half a watermelon was still sitting on my counter.

I noticed our 12 year old found the melon baller.  She proceeded to cut and cut into the half a watermelon with the melon baller.  She ended up filling an entire tray that she set out for anyone to enjoy.

I went by it several times and enjoyed a nice piece of melon.

When I got home from tumbling later that evening, there was still a big ol half a watermelon sitting on my counter.

Only this time, there were two little cuties gathered around it.  One with a plastic kid knife from Ikea, the other with the melon baller.  They both had watermelon juice dripping down their chins and down their arms and curving right around their elbows.  Our three year old was shirtless and was covered in the sticky pink juice.  Our five year old was actually on the counter, hugging that big ol half a watermelon as she scooped out little ball-shaped bites.  There was watermelon pieces on the floor, on the counter, and enough sticky mess to last until the next day.

I just sat back, smiled, took a picture, and I asked them if it was good.

That night, as I got ready to go to bed, there was still that big ol half a watermelon sitting on my counter.  It looked something like a carcass that had been pecked at throughout the day.  I decided I would clean it in the morning…that, the counters, the floors, the barstools.

I realized, that watermelon was the best $4.87 I had spent all week.  I was exhausted and irritated when they asked for it, I cussed in my head when I was cutting it, and yet I laughed at Bela’s reprimands, enjoyed Olivia’s tasty treat she left out for us, and loved the sticky kids sitting on my counter!
Sometimes watermelons are more than watermelons.