Once Upon a St. Paddy’s Day

It's Saint Patrick's Day.

Let me preface this post by saying that, when I was a kid, we wore green on Saint Patrick's Day. That's pretty much it. Sometimes... maybe... we would eat green food or do a leprechaun coloring page or writing assignment at school, but that's it. There were no leprechaun traps! There were no leprechaun gifts!

So now, every year, when my kids are like, "The leprechaun is coming!" I'm like...

And at 9:00 last night when Eva told me that she cleaned off the kitchen table in case the leprechaun was going to leave us a surprise for breakfast, I was like...

You see...

I tried to be a good sport for Saint Patrick's Day. In a normal year, Saint Patrick's Day is the day I remember that no one in my family really owns any green clothes (other than Zoe who has a well-loved Minecraft hoodie). So a month ago, I bought my kids green shirts and a few green accessories. Then Saint Patrick's Day took forever to get here. All week I've been thinking how has this holiday not come and gone yet? On Tuesday, I took down my four Saint Patrick's Day decorations and put up my five Easter decorations because I was sick of Saint Patrick's Day.

Then I found out that there was no school today. 

I didn't know!

When the school district put out the yearly calendar, I put everything on my schedule. There are several days I missed (that I think were added later). So I keep getting blindsided by days off school! And today is one of those days. 

(A five-day school week is such a rare thing these days). 

For that reason, I’m currently blogging from a trampoline park, to which I committed two hours, only to be informed by my children that this is a dumb trampoline park that won’t keep them occupied that long.

So rewind to last night at 9:00 p.m. when my sweet daughter reminded me of the expectations for leprechaun shenanigans for which I was entirely unprepared even though it comes up every year. I just can't get past the mentality that wearing green is a sufficient celebration for Saint Patrick's Day. If I'm feeling extra, maybe I'll throw in some green Jell-O at dinner. But seriously with the leprechaun! WHO IMPOSED THIS THING ON ME? And I have to do it because… Eva cleaned off the kitchen table!!!

At 10:30, after the little girls fell asleep, I went to the store and bought some green crap and Lucky Charms. Then I came home and let the leprechaun run wild. He peed in our milk carton and left green chocolates and sodas around the living room. 

Every morning feels like a frat party around here.

He left footprints on our mirror and wrote, "Who made this mess?"

He wasn't very happy that I put out the Easter decorations before Saint Patrick's Day!

And he wasn't a fan of Eva's artwork.

Eva and Zoe were up before the sun investigating the leprechaun's shenanigans (hence my stellar photographs). I offered last night to pay them to sleep in. Evidently their sleep cannot be purchased, and after staying up all night watching Netflix, I wasn’t too pleased about my little alarm clocks hovering over my bed in the dark yelling, “Mom! Get up! It’s Saint Patrick’s Day!”

(Why was my presence necessary?)

Luckily I was able to scrounge up a greenish shirt and recycle yesterday’s hair and make-up to get me though the rest of the day.