seriously. do we really need to put pressure on the parents for another holiday? who celebrates st. patrick’s day anyway?
way back in kindergarten, elli’s teacher gave them an assignment to make a leprechaun trap for st. patrick’s day. little did i know how much i’d come to loathe those words: leprechaun trap.
they were supposed to devise a trap to catch leprechauns- or a piece of leprechaun clothing or shoe or money (hint, hint, parents) that the leprechauns left in their trap. seriously? who needs teachers to put these ideas into their kids’ heads? not me. i’m perfectly content in my children’s lack of knowledge/expectation for st. patrick’s day. i rather like it that way.
elli was super excited to build this trap. she was convinced that she would catch a [stupid] leprechaun. i was not. i begrudgingly went along with the stupid idea that first year. i may have sewn a tiny little cape out of green shimmery fabric that the leprechaun accidentally left in his haste to get out of elli’s trap. elli was fascinated with the cape, but was very disappointed that she didn’t catch a leprechaun. and she tried for several more days to better her invention so she could catch a real leprechaun. a very disappointed girl.
the next year, she remembered about the leprechauns and wanted to make a trap again. rrrrrgggg!
and the next year, emma had the same assignment for kindergarten so we started the disappointment all over again.
now, it’s nolan’s turn. a boy who is fascinated with building things. perfect things. he’s a first-grader, but he has not forgotten the excitement of the bleeping (time-consuming, heart-breaking) leprechaun trap. afterall, he tried for weeks last march to catch one of the pesky little guys. to no avail. he was devastated. no matter how many treats the leprechaun seemed to leave for him. still no leprechaun = very disappointed 5-year-old. he cried when i finally made him “recycle” his creation. “no, mom. i really want to catch a leprechaun so i can bring it in for sharing. nobody in my class has caught one yet!” i can’t imagine why.
“lucky” for me, i have 2 older, wiser children who love to play this game and have been leaving signs of Lucky and his leprechaun friends in Nolan’s leprechaun trap this year. 
this year, Nolan started early again. imagine his intensity with legos channeled into building leprechaun traps. and he’s already been disappointed multiple times. “he only left me 5 bags of green m&ms” or “he only left this shamrock charm” or “5 green suckers? that’s it?” or “he left his shoe (thank you special golden Barbie shoe) in my ladder! I almost got him. I’ll bet I’ll get him tomorrow.” he does not see the significance of the number 5 in relation to the number of kids there are in our family. he thinks the treats are all for him.
and he is sure to be ultimately disappointed when, on this magical day where the leprechauns will surely {not} grace his leprechaun trap once again, there will be NO leprechaun stuck in the web of yarn inside his Build-a-Bear contraption. he thinks he’s a failure because he can’t catch a stupid leprechaun. what kind of an assignment is this anyway?
happy st. patrick’s day everyone!! i hope your leprechaun traps are built better than ours.
p.s. elli just had the most hilarious idea: she thinks we should buy a hamster or a mouse and dress it up in little green clothing and put it in Nolan’s trap. wouldn’t that be hilarious to have him discover that in the morning? too bad petco is closed. the cats would have had a great time chasing after that leprechaun.
oh and i just took these for erin:
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yes, please.