Screw the Leprechauns

Anyone else confused about leprechauns? "Are leprechauns real or pretend, mom?" Patrick asked me today.  Patrick started coming home from preschool last week talking about setting leprechaun traps and finding gold coins the leprechauns had left behind.  "Pretend", I replied.  He insisted they must be real or they would not have left gold coins. 

Shit.

The problem is, leprechauns were not on my list.  You know, the list of fictional characters, like Santa, and the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, who have well developed cover stories.  I don't have time to do traps or leave cute leprechaun notes for my kids.  I salute rageagainsttheminivan.com mom who celebrates St. Patrick's Day with a box of Lucky Charm cereal (why didn't I think of that?!).  I was one of the obnoxious moms who over-did the school valentine, but I draw the line here.  My kids got a $1 blinking shamrock light at breakfast, and one of them was named after St. Patrick. 

That being said, check back next year for photos of my leprechaun traps.

As a reward for listening to my rant, how about a cute picture of our resident little leprechaun?