St. Patty's Day Tradition

St. Patrick's Day is coming up and my kids love any holiday they associate with candy. Wait, you DON'T associate St. Pat's with candy? Oh, that will have to change!

These boys of mine love tradition and can remember the most minute details of something I do once. They relive how great it was and look forward to it the next year. Sometimes that pressure is a bit daunting, but if I can remember to plan ahead I usually end up with some pretty happy kids.

Now, we all know leprechauns are mischievous little devils, and they go a little crazy on St. Patrick's Day. It goes without saying that you must wear green on that day or you will get pinched by a frisky little leprechaun when you least expect it. But what other kinds of trouble do these little guys cause each year? They like to make a mess!

Leprechauns aren't malicious, they just like to have a good time at the expense of others. Their little pranks really tickle the kids, so each year we wake up to a little St. Patrick's Day mess that they make while we are all snug in our beds:



Chairs overturned, pillows on the floor, newspapers spread around, the kids get such a charge out of waking up to this mess. If you look closely you can see how these pesky little leprechauns make it up to them...



A bit of treasure is left behind in the form of candy coins!

What St. Patrick's Day traditions do you have?

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Happy St. Pat's! The second thoughts of closet leprechaun...

Well, the leprechaun came last night and really did a job on my house. All of those fun things that seem like a good idea the night before always look a little different in the light of day.

We got up this morning to a trashed downstairs that was covered with glitter and candy (Glitter? Really?). Hubby came down and looked at three boys who were hopped up on sugar by 8am and tried to eat the green pancakes. The combo. of hyperactivity, glitter on his fork, and the nasty green pancakes sent him packing earlier than usual with a, "This better not look like this when I get home." over his shoulder. Dude, lighten up!

So, anyway, my kids went off to face their day of learning with 5 Rolos, 2 Hershey's Kisses, and 3 mini Reese's Cups in their bellies (they didn't like the pancakes either...Yeah, I really didn't think the glitter thing through properly). I'll be accepting my Mom of the Year trophy at a special ceremony given by their 1st and 3rd grade teachers after school today. The ceremony might just include a beat down, but I'm man enough to take it. :)