Hey Everyone, Happy March 17th - aka St. Patrick's Day!
How many of you readers go over-the-top in celebrating this holiday? I know a few of you do, because those actions have actually been not-so-helpful for my own kids....
What am I referring to? It's that darn leprechaun. You see, that little mascot of St. Patrick's Day has made it a habit of visiting certain houses, but not ours.
The whole thing came to my awareness when we began carpooling with our neighbors. The day we rode with them on March 17th, they were full of descriptions of clever notes, trails of glitter or confetti, and, of course, treats that that special little leprechaun left for them. My kids felt ripped off, but I tried to pass over the issue.
Last year, Mikayla's first grade teacher made a HUGE deal about the leprechaun "defacing" the room, playing all sorts of pranks. Once again, Mikayla wondered, "Did he do anything at our house, any tricks, notes, or treats?" Nope......
I thought I was in the clear this year. New teacher, no longer carpooling with the neighbors (not for lack of friendship, it just became too much hassle trying to get our kids ready early for each other and having to deal with individual early classroom requirements...). But, oh no, the first thing Mikayla did when she got home was to look around the house to see what tricks that little man with the red beard did here. She found nada, nothing, zero......(her only little dangling hope was that maybe it was the one that stole her seasonal-allergy medication from today's pill dispenser slot.....-that would have been me, wondering if I'm also an allergy sufferer.....)
What I had failed to remember is that Mikayla's BFF, Kenady, is a big St. Patty's celebrator. And, oh, that little leprechaun had wreaked havoc at her house, much to Kenady's delight. They had had a playdate scheduled for today, so I got a chance to talk to Kenady's mom. We had fun lamenting over how to gloss over these scenarios - we decided I should go with the "the leprechaun knows how much we go over the top celebrating Christmas with the countdown calendar, so he visits other houses on this holiday of kids who don't celebrate quite as much as we do on other holidays." I tried it when she came home, it might have worked. I thought about going with the "our family just doesn't really acknowledge St. Patrick's Day as much as others given our heritage....", but oh wait, our last name is RILEY!!!!! Our kids have more Irish in them than any other lineage....(a close second would be Finnish from Grandma Liupakka....but given my predominate lineage is Irish too - (and of course, John's dad's was entirely Irish....)) - we should be livin' large on this holiday!
So, I blew it. By the time I figure it out to get my act together on this holiday, Mikayla will be beyond the realm of belief in leprechauns. Maybe this will be one of those that I can remedy my mistakes by igniting the idea of celebration for the next generation.=)
2 comments:
I'm afraid we're spoilsports ... no Leprachaun's, no Tooth Fairies, no Santas, nada...my kids know mom and dad do it all.
And while they gets presents at Christmas and money for teeth, I have never in my wildest dreams thought of doing ANYthing for St. Patrick's Day. It just didn't occur to me. But, I discovered this week that my friends have great imaginations...they've got leprechauns that pee in their toilets, paint their kid's big toenail green, and other mischief.
Maybe I'll go with orange next year and try some of that out since my family is from Northern Ireland. :) But then, I'll have to PLAN in advance, and that does not become me. haha!
I'm with cjoy - never thought of adding this day to my list. I wouldn't want to either - that is, until I read about peeing in the toilet and painting toenails! Ooh, that sounds like fun!
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