St. Patrick’s Day + mom guilt!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

This morning I am feeling a tiny bit of mom guilt. Not really that much, but a little bit.

Over the years, St. Patrick’s Day somehow became one of those “magic holidays” at our house- the ones where magical, unexpected things happen, much to the kids’ delight. (Think Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Elf on the Shelf…).

When they were little, I must have seen something on Facebook or somewhere about creating some “St. Patty’s Day” fun for your kids by turning things green or creating some “leprechaun mischief”. I apparently thought that seemed like a nice idea, so I started by using food coloring to turn the milk green one year and blaming it on the leprechaun.

The kids were so excited by the idea of little Irishmen sneaking into our house that the next year, I went even bigger. Over time, the leprechauns did all sorts of silly stuff. They always would make a big mess- kitchen chairs turned upside down, or all the cabinet doors in the house left open, toss pillows all over the floor, etc. Then, they would turn the toilet water green. And the milk. Sometimes they left shamrock coloring pages at the breakfast bar, or rainbow window clings on the bathroom mirror.

No matter what, they would always leave a “trail” throughout the house (little squares of green construction paper cut into “confetti”). The trail would lead to a little gift of some sort. Sometimes it would be a box of Lucky Charms out in the garage. One year the trail led to a big message written in chalk on the driveway! Another year they left “golden” chocolate coins (a pot of gold).

THE KIDS LOVED THIS. Asher would always set leprechaun traps- pretty complicated ones, too! But the leprechauns always prevailed. 😉

However, if you’ve been reading a while, you know that this past December Asher finally discovered the truth about Santa (and….all the other magic creatures). We still “did” Santa at Christmas, though, and I even moved the dumb elf around, just for fun and to keep the spirit alive.

But last night? I was not in a leprechaun-y. mood. I hadn’t prepared anything and I was like, you know what? I’m kinda done with this now.

Ethan said after school, “I wonder what the leprechauns will do tomorrow??” and kind of winked at me. I responded totally straight faced, “Um, the leprechauns will not be coming. You know, Covid and all. Border is still closed I think in Ireland.” 😳 They were like, “Awwww…..!!” 😥 Mom guilt.

This morning, Ethan said, “Thanks Asher, for figuring out Santa….now all the fun is ruined!!” Haha. I don’t think they “really” cared, of course. But I still felt a little bad.

While they ate their bagels, I served them some vanilla yogurt and grabbed some green sprinkles out of the cabinet when they weren’t looking.

I turned around and exclaimed, “Oh!! Look!!! The leprechauns came after all!!! They turned your yogurt green!!!” 😂😂

They just rolled their eyes at me. Nice try. Hahahaha!!!

Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? We really don’t at all, besides this leprechaun tradition.

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for getting my vaccine yesterday!!! Drive thru vaccination site was a piece of cake. No side effects except a sore arm so far!