QUICKIE: This morning I told Vincenzo he needed to put some pants on because his friends were coming over. He asked, “But don’t you want them to see my cute little legs?”
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I love St. Patrick’s Day. I love it because I don’t feel guilty for not staying up three hours past my bedtime like I do on New Year’s; I don’t feel depressed because I was not surprised with a box of chocolates and a helicopter ride to Tiffany’s like on Valentine’s Day; I am not confused about how to celebrate it like I am on President’s Day. We don’t have to decide which side of the family we’re spending it with this year or thaw anything in the fridge for 52 hours ahead of time. It’s a holiday that just quietly shows up, expects nothing, and when it leaves no one is in the hospital with their faces blown off.
We started our Patty’s Day festivities with a leprechaun hunt today. After eating a green lunch, Vincenzo and a couple friends found a poem from a leprechaun* that told them there were some gold coins hidden in the house. All they had to do was find the shamrocks with their clues, and the first clue was under their own chairs! The kids eagerly climbed under their chairs and within seconds one of them cried, “I FOUND IT!” He came up brandishing a piece of his green bagel from lunch, which he promptly ate. The kids seemed satisfied that their search was over and hence dispersed.
Once we refocused the group, they found the shamrock under the chair with this picture taped to it:
“What is it?” I asked. “Where are you supposed to look next?” Their answers were, respectively: “It’s a fire truck,” “It’s a butterfly,” and “I don’t know,” the latter being my son’s answer. My son who sits on this couch every day.
Anyway, the next clue brought them downstairs to the piano. The kids squealed and ran downstairs, and the hunt was on. But by the time I made it downstairs myself I found each of them in a different section of the room, playing quietly with a toy. I read all their thought bubbles and didn’t see a single mention of either piano or leprechaun hunt.
Eventually the hunt was finished and the gold coins found and the boys went back to playing the game they really wanted to play: Two Dads and a Baby. Which is really much more of a Greek tradition than an Irish one.
(Cue Kevin to leave his favorite joke in the comments section.)
WHAT’S COOKIN’ 2NITE:
Pulled pork sandwiches
Classic Mac ‘n Cheese
Steamed asparagus
*If you want to do a leprechaun hunt of your own and want to use my poem, send me your e-mail address. The poem is too embarrassing for an snooty English major such as myself to publicly admit to having written.