St. Patty's Party Pooper

I was just wondering since when had St. Patrick's Day evolved from a day you just tried to find a clean, green article of clothing to a day full of magic and featuring mischievous imaginary men? Perhaps I should be more prepared [and enthusiastic] after my high school years as a fighting Irish. But I'm pretty sure all I gained there, in addition to a little luck from kissing the Blarney Stone, was how to draw a passable shamrock.

Perusing Facebook posts has given me a bit of an inferiority complex. It all started when I saw a friend's post saying she had finished making Lucky Charm treats. The day progressed with reports of bigger and more elaborate celebrations. Leprechaun traps, gift-bearing little green men, green meals, a "dinner at the end of the rainbow," various pranks. [I have to admit I was impressed by one friend who said the leprechauns stacked up all the dining room chairs in the hall, toilet papered, and put the vacuum on the table and a chair in the sink. That's dedication.] It doesn't help that apparently our next door neighbor's house is the most magical on the block. As a result, Aiden in particular expects letters from his own personal leprechaun, tricks of all sorts in the house, and footprints from leprechauns dancing in the garden at midnight. I just can't keep up with these Joneses.

I did manage to cast a spell upon the milk at breakfast [put a couple of drops of food coloring in the bottom of the bowl and cover with cereal -- when you pour the milk and mix it up, voila! it's green] and put green sprinkles on the toast. But then I forgot to wear green and made a very un-green dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. Nary a Lucky Charms treat nor rainbow cupcake in sight. Aiden asked why we weren't having green food. My response: "Eat your spinach salad, son!" Who needs all those simple carbs, anyway?

So to make myself feel better after my run-in with Facebook peer pressure, I decided I needed to tally the things I did do yesterday rather than focus on my glaring neglect of this vastly important holiday. I washed three loads of laundry and folded one! I got my kids off to school, welcomed them home, completed homework, made them practice the piano, and got them to bed! I played balloon toss and otherwise [mostly] entertained/fed/clothed a 3-year-old! I made my bed! I prepared a very well-balanced and rather delicious dinner! I baked a batch of wheat bread! I washed lots of dishes! I know there's more but it's too late to think anymore! [I had to exclaim all of these sentences because I feel to celebrate each accomplishment and also because it seems like a very Facebookish thing to do.] So there you have it. Hope you had a happy St. Patrick's Day. And hope it was just as magical as you felt inclined to make it.