**UPDATE** Alas, the elusive Leprechaun avoided capture again, but he did, apparently, leave shamrock confetti and a single golden shoe behind... maybe next year!

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One of the things I love about being a mom is re-living all the joy and excitement of the holidays. I'd forgotten how much fun St. Patrick's Day can be! For more years than I care to remember, it's been just any other day. Sure I'd try to wear green but if I didn't, I could still usually avoid any pinches.

But with a kindergartner in the house plotting and building her Leprechaun trap, I've found it impossible not to join in on the excitement!

So when did these clever leprechauns start wreaking such havoc in kindergarten classrooms anyway? I don't remember ever hearing about them coming in and messing up the classroom calendar and knocking over trash cans and causing other kinds of mischief. And I certainly don't remember ever hearing about the need for a leprechaun trap. One friend of ours even had a leprechaun mess things up in her own home! Of course I quickly explained to Claire and Ava that the leprechauns left our house alone because we're Irish. (Hey I thought that was pretty quick thinking! And... I am of Irish lineage - my mom was a McGinn and her mom, an Oldham. Although I've just been informed by my buddy Google that Oldham is of English derivation... I've been under the impression it was Irish. Okay so I'll add "research genealogy" to my to-do list.)

Anyway, it occurs to me that these years of excitement over leprechauns and the like are very short-lived... so I'm going to enjoy every minute of it!

I can't wait to get home and hear whether the traps Claire and her classmates built snared any little green guys sneaking around the school. I'll bring you the update later. Breaking news, you know!

Penny