Our son-in-law and daughter scraped the popcorn off our ceilings and one of
them (I won't say which one :-) got carried away and scraped too much,
gouging the finish in some areas.

From the other answers I've read about popcorn ceilings, it sounds like my
best bet is to get some watered down drywall mud and put it on those areas
with a sponge. Any other ideas?

thanks!