Lucky Leprechaun Day - Fun Family Tradition

A few days ago my 4 year-old daughter ran into the kitchen of our new house begging me for a ziploc bag. When I asked her why, she enthusiastically declared that she had discovered a huge patch of clovers under our deck and needed to harvest them for Lucky Leprechaun Day.

My kids have been counting down to St. Patrick's Day for weeks now. They look forward to leprechaun visits the way other kids look forward to Easter baskets and tooth fairy quarters. Although it started completely by accident, it's been one of my kid's favorite family traditions. So, naturally, I thought I'd post it here.

Just so you know, I did post this idea about a year ago. However, my blog was so new then that I doubt I had many readers. I thought I'd post it again for those of you that joined a little later in the year.

St. Patrick's day was always a little dull at our house. We usually do the green pancakes and such, but I wanted something a little more fun for my kids to look forward to in March.

Several years ago, my oldest daughter fell asleep on an old green Mardi Gras necklace. When she woke up on St. Patrick's Day, she had a strange green marking on her belly. She was too little to understand that the paint from the necklace had transferred to skin, so I told her that a lucky leprechaun must have snuck into her room late at night and left her his good luck mark. I told her the mark was very special because it promised an entire year of good luck. She believed me whole-heartedly. In fact, whenever she was nervous or scared during the following year I reminded her of the mark and she'd get a sudden burst of courage.

We had so much fun with it that year, that we made it a St. Patrick's Day tradition. Each year, on St. Patrick's eve, they put freshly picked clovers in front of their door. After they've gone to sleep, I sneak into their rooms and draw a tiny green clover with permanent marker somewhere on their body. When they wake up on St. Patrick's Day, they search all over to find their mark, and then rush in to our room to tell us just how lucky they're going to be that year. They love that the 'lucky leprechaun ink' lasts for several days which gives them plenty of time to show off their good luck to all their friends.

I know it seems simple and perhaps a bit silly, but the way I figure it is this: I've only got a few short years where my kids eyes will sparkle at the thought of fairies, fantasy, and flying reindeer . Why not add one more magical creature to the list? Considering it only costs me the price of a marker and about 5 minutes of my time, I think it's well worth it. Just thought I'd pass it on.

If any of you have other St. Patrick's Day traditions you'd like to add, please feel free to add it to the comments section. I'm always looking for new ways to make these smaller holidays a little more momentous.