Leprechauns, Rainbows, and Shamrocks, Oh My!
Who doesn’t love a good ol’ fashioned St. Patty’s Day celebration with the ones you love! Irish coffee, Irish beer, fun St. Patty’s Day food, and of course, ‘leprechaun’ shenanigans to create a world of excitement and wonder for our curious little human’s (who doesn’t love a sneaky little leprechaun raiding your house!?) Let’s talk about ‘green’ everything and all the fun stuff we can do to make our homes a little more magical during this fun time of year!
First off, let’s be clear. I am 100% the Mom that goes along with most Americans. I purchase everything green, I have the traditional ‘American’ Irish corned beef and cabbage for our yearly St. Patty’s Day meal, I make sure to always clothe my little offspring in green outfits (because I remember getting pinched when I was little and it was NO FUN! I’m still upset with my parents for not protecting me on this day), and I make it a priority that my family wakes up to a super fun, super over the top, a little ridiculous, ‘green’ St. Patty’s Day breakfast!
Why do I do this? Because life should be fun and I want to create fun family traditions that my children will remember and hopefully pass on to their children. Any moments where I can create a fun atmosphere and instill some creativity in my children I will take in a heartbeat! St. Patty’s Day is a day where we can create long lasting memories! In the spirit of creating fun memories, here’s are a few idea’s to help make your St. Patty’s Day a little more special for your family!
Research
What is the purpose of St. Patrick’s Day? Why do some people celebrate this holiday? Pick a day and do some research with your kiddos about the purpose of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Get them involved, do some research, and learn something new! After your fun findings do a little research on leprechauns! This will create a whole new world of imagination in their little brains!
Magical Leprechauns
Now that you’ve got the kids all hyped up about St. Patrick’s Day and the crazy magical little leprechauns, it’s time for Mom to make the real magic happen.
Green Food Coloring: I’m talking about investing in some serious green food coloring for the big day. Be ready to put green food coloring in everything. I’m talking everything. Even your pretty little toilet. If you haven’t gotten on the leprechaun restroom bandwagon you’re in luck. You can jump on the train now! Typically leprechaun’s like to swing by the house looking for gold the week of St. Patrick’s Day. With their very small bladders in their very small bodies, they typically ‘forget’ to flush the toilet on their way out the door. (Yup, you got it now. Put a drop or two of that food coloring in your toilet and your kids will talk about this magical leprechaun bathroom incident for years! No joke, my kids live for looking in the toilet every March.)
Leprechauns also sometimes leave little trails of green glitter in parts of the house (I know, this sounds a little much, but when your kiddo catches a glimpse of a pile of green glitter they’ll tear that house apart for hours looking for leprechauns. As a result of this nightmare green glitter, Mom get’s a little break to veg on the couch and do what she wants in peace. Sometimes glitter is worth the hassle friends. Sometime’s it’s juuussstttt worth it.)
What else do these little magical men like to do? Sometime’s these fun little guys like to leave little Shamrocks with fun notes on them too! “Have a great day Charlie!” “Leave me some Gold tomorrow and I’ll leave you a little surprise!”(Insert Hershey Kiss ‘poop’ right here if you’re feeling ornery…or a regular Hershey Kiss with glitter if you’re feeling like Cupid.) And sometimes they like to leave a box of the good stuff for breakfast as a surprise to celebrate the big day. I’m talking about the most healthy cereal you can think of. That’s right friends, Lucky Charms. Lucky Charms rule in this magical leprechaun world.
Food
After all of these leprechaun shenanigans comes the best part, FOOD! St. Patty’s Day is all about fun food!
Breakfast: Green eggs & ham, green pancakes (feel free to cut these into Shamrocks if you’re feeling like a boss), green milk accompanied by whip cream with green sprinkles (green sprinkles on everything!!!), and last but not least, Lucky Charms!
Lunch: Green spinach tortilla turkey rollups (your kids won’t even care that the tortilla’s are made of spinach, it’s St. Patty’s Day! Green everything!) Throw in some green veggies on the side and if you’re feeling extra fun, have a baking project ready for that afternoon so you can have a fun Irish green dessert! Think of cupcakes with green frosting, sugar cookies with green sprinkles, and my golly, what about those green ‘Sprite’ floats. (Add a few drops of green food coloring to a bottle of sprite and pour over vanilla ice cream. Top with whip cream and green sprinkles and a fun green straw from your local 99c Store or Dollar Store!)
Dinner: Gotta get on the bandwagon and do the Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage! (Straight up one of my favorite meals!) Don’t forget the Irish Soda Bread. I personally buy myself my own loaf of that amazingness and another for the family to share. Buy it early…because those loafs are guaranteed to be sold out on this awesome day. And for the adult beverages, drum roll! Guinness and Harp! Black and Tan’s just complete a St. Patrick’s Day evening. So do ‘Green Corona’s’…and pretty much any kind of green beer in a pint glass or giant mug. It just makes ya feel like a leprechaun!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day friends!
