St. Patrick's Day 2009

Our theme day didn't go quite according to plan, but it was still fun!

The night before, after Kylen was settled snugly in his bed and Greg had bid him goodnight, I told him the legend of how leprechauns visit homes the night before St. Patrick's Day. Of course, he knew it was just a story.

Well, apparently we have done a fantastic job teaching the difference between truth and fairy tales, because he came up with plenty of explanations for the green water in the toilet, and none involved leprechauns! First, he thought that the people at the "sewage place" dyed the water to play a trick on everyone for St. Patrick's Day. I thought that was pretty smart! (I found out later the prep work had been a bit more involved than simply dropping a tablet of dye in. Greg told me how strange it felt to be sitting on the edge of the tub slowly stirring the water with a flexi-straw like a big pot of soup. Yummy!) Kylen also suggested that Greg or I did it.

There was some degree of shock and horror when he turned on his faucet to wash his hands and green water splattered all over inside of the sink. He immediately turned off the tap and just sort of stood there looking worried and bewildered, wondering if it was poison on his skin. He suggested we not drink anything until we had done some investigating. Maybe there was something wrong with the water?

In the end he said, "I still think you had something to do with it."

He knows me so well.

Here he is wearing plenty of green, including a green shamrock sticker on his arm.


He moved a workbook to find a "squashed leprechaun" underneath! His reaction? "What is silly putty doing under here??"

We read about St. Patrick's Day, did logic puzzles, I told him several jokes. These were his two favorites:

Why is a river rich?
Because it has two banks!

Knock, knock!
Who's there?
Irish!
Irish who?
Irish you a happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Our snack was mint hot cocoa and biscotti for dipping.

We both enjoyed the Jolly Green Giant ads and listening to Irish music on the internet. He wanted to work on typing, so I played the songs while looking up their lyrics, then sang them while he practiced. All went well until Cockles and Mussels when Kylen said, "That's a very unappetizing song." He thought the girl was selling real muscles from her wheelbarrow! I explained what it really meant, but the next few meals he had a hard time eating, because he kept losing his appetite!

At the end, we took turns reading chapters from Leprechauns Don't Play Fetch (from Bailey's School Kids, one of his favorite series). I thought it was neat how they tied in lots of St. Patrick's Day lore and facts about Ireland.

Our dinner plans were changed rather last minute, so we didn't make our dessert. Perhaps next year!