It’s one of the many joys of parenting. It ranks right up there with teething, chicken pox, and the ever popular, “Are we there yet?” It starts as soon as a child enters Kindergarten, and goes non-stop until he/she leaves the hallowed halls of learning wearing a graduation gown and mortarboard. Yes, that’s right. It’s the ever-popular school fundraiser.

School fundraiser... where little Johnny can win a BMX bike, if he outsells every other child on the planet. School fundraiser...where you hassle family, friends, co-workers, and total strangers, in an attempt to raise money for little Janie’s field trip, school jacket, yearbook, band, choir, teacher’s benefits, the national debt. But that’s the fun part. The real task comes after the chocolate, wrapping paper, candles, and assorted doodads arrive.

Today was D (for delivery) day for my daughter’s latest foray into the commercial world. The products, to be transported to eagerly awaiting consumers, were cinnamon rolls and cheesecakes, with a pumpkin pie thrown in for selling the designated amount of wares. All of the goodies were well packaged. The choir director had everything ready for pick-up at the appointed time. Everything seemed to be going fairly smoothly.

The first customer worked at the school. She received her baked goods with the expected awe and enthusiasm. After she related the story of how the gooey pastries would fit into her weekend plans, we were on our way. The first stop would be my workplace, because that is where most of the victims, I mean buyers, had been trapped...make that solicited. Almost everyone had remembered that his or her precious commodities would arrive this afternoon, making the delivery process a breeze. Even the few that weren’t at work were called, and the food was placed in refrigerators, in various parts of the business establishment to be picked up later. So far, so good.

We got home. While assembling the remaining cheesecakes and cinnamon rolls, my daughter placed the pumpkin pie upended in a box. Noticing the slanting box, I quickly laid it flat. Okay, it was supposed to be cold, it shouldn’t be a problem. We unloaded the van, made the remaining deliveries, and went inside the house. The only detail left, putting away our own purchases, which consisted of a tuxedo cheesecake, cinnamon rolls, and the free pumpkin pie. We planned to refrigerate the cheesecake till after dinner, and freeze the pumpkin pie for a later day. As I removed the pie, from the box containing the food, it dripped. That’s when I noticed that the cheesecake box had a few drops of pumpkin on it. The pie was thawed. I opened the pie box to see how bad the situation was. The filling was no longer in the shell. Pumpkin covered the soggy cardboard.

What could be done? There was no way to refreeze the messy remains. What I’m trying to say is...

Anyone for coffee and pumpkin pie?