Lucky the Leprechaun
It was almost year ago that we first came to Long Island to house hunt. While visiting I picked up a free newspaper at a local deli. The whole thing was devoted to St. Patrick’s Day and all of the many parades that take place out here. I was surprised because all though I
knew New York had a large Irish population, I really didn’t think about Long Island, specifically the Hamptons, as being Irish.
I’ve learned a little since then about where we live and although we haven’t seen a St. Patty’s Day parade yet (no fear–we are heading to one soon), we have seen a leprechaun.
Our very small library hosted “Lucky the Leprechaun” last weekend. First, a local baker brought Irish soda bread for all the kids to try followed by a few Irish themed games.
Irish themed is not to be confused with Irish games! Basically, the kids played musical chairs but instead of using chairs, the players had to stand on shamrocks. I am admittedly proud that out of about 25 kids, the last two players on the floor were Caroline and a boy that was at least double her age and twice her size. I am not too proud to admit that Liam was the first child that had to sit out.
After a short while, Lucky the (very hairy-legged) Leprechaun arrived for some good old photo opts. Liam gave him the cold shoulder and clung to mine the whole time. Caroline gave a big smile, but she told me didn’t think Lucky was a real leprechaun. She figured he was just a regular person helping the leprechauns. She seemed a little bit unsure if leprechaun’s even existed but she didn’t push the issue and we left it at that.
Earlier in the week, Caroline had learned about leprechaun’s at preschool. She learned that they can sometimes play tricks and jokes on people. She told us a story about leprechaun’s messing up her teacher’s papers last year after St. Patrick’s Day and was thrilled to hear that one time leprechaun’s moved my student’s desks around so that when the kid’s came to class the next day, they couldn’t find their seats. So even though she wasn’t quite sure she was a believer in the Lucky from the library, I think she was disappointed that she didn’t have a leprechaun story.
Even though I “pinned” some leprechaun shenanigan ideas on Pinterest, I didn’t really feel any of them were the thing for us. Green water in the toilet and glitter all over the house….sounds fun for about a minute. I am sure the kids would love it, but the follow up questions and the mess were a turn off. I settled on a chocolate coin in each shoe. Simple and a big enough surprise for them as they went to put their shoes on Sunday morning.
Caroline was practically giddy as she told us that Lucky must have come to our house. Then she remembered that Lucky wasn’t real so a REAL leprechaun must have come while she was sleeping. She even convinced herself that she dreamed about it and that she couldn’t wait to tell her teacher that she had her very own leprechaun story!
Liam had two simple questions.
First he wanted to know why did the leprechaun leave chocolate coins in his shoes? I told him it was so he would have good luck where ever he went.
Then, and probably most importantly, he wanted to know if he could eat the coins. Yes. I think he was feeling pretty lucky then!
It took Caroline until the last bite of her Irish soda bread to decide she didn’t like it
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