My son came home from preschool one day last year and could
not wait to build a leprechaun trap. He was absolutely enthralled as he told me
all about the leprechaun stories they had read and the trap they had built
together as a class. He was so excited about it and it seemed harmless enough,
so I told him to go for it. He quickly got his little sister involved and they
spent the afternoon gathering supplies and arranging them around their toys in
hopes of catching “that sneaky old leprechaun” he had learned about in school.
I thought it was cute and their innocence rather charming, so when night came
and they were finally sleeping like angels, I sprinkled some green glitter
around their traps and left a few pennies inside one of their jars. It took me
less than five minutes and did not cost a thing, but the magic that took over
our house the next morning was priceless.
And so it began…the next few days were spent in wonder and
awe as the kids carefully constructed traps out of random household objects in
hopes of catching a little green elf. Let’s be honest, March is a long month
for kids (and parents). The excitement of winter and playing in the snow is
long gone, but spring hasn’t quite sprung yet and my kids watch more TV and
spend more time on my iPod than I’m proud of. We all seem to be losing patience
with each other and are just longing for those beautiful spring and summer days
when we can run and play outside. But for now, we’re trapped in March.
I had never gotten myself too worked up about St. Patrick’s
Day previously. We always wore green and I might have put some green food
coloring in their milk or something, but that was about it. But now, I had a
preschooler and a toddler absolutely over the moon about catching a leprechaun.
Instead of watching PBS Kids while clawing at each other’s throats, they were
actually playing nicely with each other and working together to build the
world’s greatest leprechaun trap. Their creativity was inspiring and their
enthusiasm was darling. My husband and I could not help share in their magic
and spent a few minutes every night messing with their traps and leaving them a
few coins and sprinkling some glitter.
Why did we do this? Were we trying to upstage other parents?
No. Were we hoping everybody would see our pictures and think we are a perfect
family? Nope. Were we trying to “go big or go home” and ruin everybody else’s
lives in the process? Negative. We did it for the same reason we have read Where the Wild Things Are so many times
I know it by heart, why even my husband knows every word to “Let it Go,” and
why I don’t mind when our children crawl in between us in the night because they
need to snuggle and feel a little extra love. Childhood does not last forever.
One day, that little boy with the crazy red hair whose soft blue eyes danced
with excitement at the thought of catching leprechauns is going to grow up. He
is going to get into his daddy’s old truck and drive away with his friends, and
I’m going to be sad. My heart will probably ache a little for the days when our
lives were filled with wonder and magic by some simple glitter and a few coins.
If you don’t want to build leprechaun traps with your kids,
that is totally fine. I am positive you are a great parent and love your
children in only the way you can. I’m sure you have your own silly traditions
and do fun things and your kids are happy. Have holidays gotten out of control?
Maybe, maybe not. What really matters is what is in your heart and the feeling
that is in your home. You are not a bad parent if you do not build leprechaun
traps, but you’re also not a bad parent if you do. There is enough good in the
world for all of us to be awesome, so find what works for you and do it.
For the record, the thought of making Pinterest-worthy
Valentine’s Day boxes was more than I had in me this year and I took my kids to
Wal-Mart and told them they could choose any pre-made mailbox they wanted as long as it was under $5. I’m sure there were other kids in their classes with
beautiful homemade boxes, but I was okay with what we had, and so were they.
One year I totally forgot about Easter and we showed up late to the town Easter
egg hunt with nothing but ice cream buckets for my children to gather their
eggs in. They were okay with it, and so was I. This year, we made leprechaun
traps and had a little fun with St. Patrick’s Day. Guess what? I’m okay with
it, and you should be, too.
