When I was a kid, my grandmother made a big deal about St. Patrick’s Day. She’d make me and my brother a green breakfast (green scrambled eggs or pancakes, washed down with green milk), and while we ate she’d tell us about St. Patrick, or her Irish relatives, or stories about Leprechauns. We adored the Leprechaun stories. The ones in Gramma’s stories never made mischief; they were helpful, friendly and hardworking. After we finished our breakfast and put on our green clothes, we each received a new pair of shoes left by the Leprechauns. We’d finish the day with a yummy Gramma-made dinner of corned beef, cabbage, and boiled potatoes. St. Patrick’s Days with my gram are some of my favorite memories.
I’ve been looking forward to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with my kids for years now, and I thought that this year Annie was finally old enough to appreciate my grandma’s traditions. Before she went to sleep on the 16th, I told her about Leprechauns: how tall they are, what they wear, and that they are cobblers. Then I told her that when I was a kid, Leprechauns used to leave me a new pair of shoes every year on St. Patrick’s Day. I wasn’t sure if she really took the whole thing in, but in the morning she woke me and Mike up with, “Did the Leprechauns come?! Did the Leprechauns come?”
Of course they had:
I need to scrub my grout, blech.
Annie is a hot mess in the mornings…kind of like her mom.
Hair everywhere!
The Leprechauns had left her chocolate coins, some hair clips, necklaces, and a new pair of shoes. Fashionista Annie was very excited about her new kicks.
She didn’t even realize the coins were chocolate until she told me she wanted to put them in her piggy bank and I had to clue her in.
Mike read her the note the Leprechauns had left for Annie:
We Leprechauns like to make shoes
What color would Annabel choose?
It took no time to think –
Dear Annie loves pink!
We cobbled this pair while you snoozed!
After that, it was breakfast! Mike whipped up some yummy green pancakes.
Then we put on our green clothes and Annie suggested we look for Leprechauns.
I didn’t think I was going to want corned beef and didn’t plan ahead, but come lunch time I was a bit sad I didn’t have any in the house. But Mike, husband extraordinaire, tracked some down, so we were able to introduce Annie to the wonders of salted meat. Mmmmm.
Annie spent a lot of the day asking me about my grandma, which made me really happy. “What was her name? Where did she live? Did she have a baby brother, too?” My gramma would have adored Annie, and it made me so happy to do something for my daughter that my grandmother had done for me.
Jenn says:
You’re an AMAZING Mama Heather!!!! I loved your pictures….OMG….Summer wear….in March!!! (Sorry, we’re getting another winter storm today with lots of freezing rain & snow, so of course I was in awe of you guys wearing shorts but no wonder…LOOK AT THAT SUN!!!). Looks like you all had the best day!! I’m so glad you did. I KNOW your grandma would/does LOVE Annie….how could she not?!?! She’s such a little sweetheart!!! Just think….next yr. there will be another pair of little baby boy shoes….so much too look forward too!!! xoxo
Niamh says:
you might enjoy the following link:
http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/10121924/
Neil Delamere, one of our funnier comedians here in Ireland, went on a quest to discover the truth about St Patrick.
Fad saol agat, gob fliuch, agus bás in Éirinn!
Niamh
Tracy says:
LOVE the new shoes idea!
Maris says:
That’s sp nice you were finally able to do that
Colleen says:
This is just awesome. It’s so great when we get to pass long the traditions that made our childhood so special. Thanks for sharing!
AmyG says:
You & Mike are the coolest parents! Can the girls & I come live with you all? lol I’m glad you were able to pass on some awesome traditions!
Trisha says:
Love the picture of you and Annie all decked out in your green!
Glad Mike was able to track down some corned beef for you, that would have been a bummer. You’ve got to have CB&C on St. Patty’s Day.
Virginie says:
Lucky you! I wish my granny was still here and be able to bear a child one day…. Cherish those moments
nicole says:
I had no idea that leprechauns were cobblers, I honestly don’t remember doing anything special for SPD growing up other than wearing green, but I LOVE the shoe/treasure surprise idea. I may start copying you next year!
Tara says:
I love this! What a great idea! Thank you so much for sharing your family traditions. We wear green and do corned beef and cabbage at dinner, but I never thought about leprechauns leaving a gift for my kids. How FUN! I hope you don’t mind my stealing this idea for next year.
You guys are such awesome parents!!
Glenda says:
LOVE Annie’s hair, her giraffe PJ’s (fav), the pic of you and Annie… adorable! Looks like a fun day!
Heather says:
God, I am so jealous of your weather. I need to move to SoCal, STAT. We woke up yesterday to more snow. I wanted to crawl into a hole.
Love the new shoes tradition, I too had no idea that leprechauns are cobblers. I made green chocolate chip cookies with my 2.5-year-old daughter yesterday, and made her try a bite of corned beef at dinner, but that was about it! Might have to do the surprise shoes next year, so cute.
Jill - A Little Baby Bean says:
Such an awesome idea! I have been thinking a lot about the traditions I want to start when my little one is old enough and this is such a great idea – as I love St. Paddy’s too, but my traditions in the past normally consisted of sitting in a bar from 12 o’clock onwards – not so much kid appropriate :).
kristin says:
You all are too cute! Love her little jumper and jealous that its warm enough there to wear anything sleeveless!
Julie says:
What great ideas you have to celebrate St. Patrick’s day with children. We spent St. Patrick’s Day driving back from our spring break trip so unfortunately did not celebrate like we usually do.
Annalisa says:
Awwwww! Love the grandma stories, and how you shared them with Annie.
My kid has awesome grandmas… Me, not so much (the one living grandma was more of the scary type that thought children should be seen and not heard :(). I hope she’ll remember her grandma and nonna much more kindly than I did mine.
Meg says:
You two ladies in green look fabulous!
TheNextMartha says:
I love this.
Lanie says:
Annie is the cutest leprechaun ever! So great how you can share your grandmother’s traditions.
Auntie_M says:
Fun!!!! I love family traditions like this!!!
Next year you’ll have to hide some gold outside for her to find!
Last year I spray-painted rocks/gravel gold & sent my nieces & nephew on a leprachaun search…they found trails of gold nuggets that the wee ones must have dropped while running away from them, but didn’t actually catch any leprechauns! Darn it!
I love how much Annie understands & that she woke up prepared to be surprised!
And I love that you & Mike are carrying on family traditions with your wee ones… How special it must have been to sit & tell stories of your youth and your gramma.
Your little leprechaun brought made my Irish eyes smile!
Auntie_M says:
PS–Loving your new look (in progress?) on the blog!
Norcross says:
wow…y’all are quick! can’t a web dev have a few minutes to migrate a new design and code base?
Auntie_M says:
Nope! Especially not when it’s already looking so good! LOL
Kat says:
Will you be my mother?
Liz says:
SO MUCH FUN! I love this. Can’t wait to do something like this with my little guy in a couple of years. Also, just got a look at the new site design and I dig it. Lookin’ good sister!