Last Wednesday, my friend Tracy called to say she had all the pieces for a leprechaun trap that she was going to build with the girls and she'd drop it off if I was going to be home. I was, and she did. The girls were so excited. They couldn't wait to build it. Getting them settled to eat dinner was a bit of a challenge, but once dinner was over we sat down to build the trap. It probably took us 45 minutes, which gave us all kinds of time to talk about St. Patrick's Day, the Irish, and what, exactly, leprechauns are. The girls were mesmerized by the whole idea of tiny mischievious men who are driven by the pursuit of gold and who don't follow rules. Trapping one was all we talked about all night.
Then, it was bedtime.
Hello? Have you met my kids? Have I? What was I thinking getting so involved in telling leprechaun stories that I even googled pictures of the little terrors to show them to my children before tucking them into bed? When I told Peyton to run down the hallway to put her clothes in the laundry bin, I think she imagined one of the little cobblers was swinging his awl at her ankles on the way back to her room. I've never heard her scream quite like that, and to be honest, I had to stifle my laughter. I'd even taken precautions to put the leprechaun trap in the garage while I said things like, "Of course we'll put the trap in the garage. Leprechauns are woodland creatures. They'd never come inside a house." Then, when my kids stared back at me in horror at the words "woodland creatures" I tried to console them by saying things like, "Y'know, woodland creatures. Like squirrels and chipmunks and other cute and cuddly and not-so-scary things that live in the woods." All the while I couldn't stop laughing and with each attempt at trying to explain and console, I just dug the hole of terror deeper and deeper. I might as well have told them I'd be putting snakes under their covers just as soon as they'd fall asleep.
Anyway, they did eventually go to sleep, but I think Peyton was in our bed for most of the night. Then, in the morning before school, they went into the garage to see if we had caught one. As it turned out we did get one, but he somehow managed to get out of the trap. They are clever little cobblers, you know. He did leave traces of leprechaun dust up our walkway and into the garage. And he left treats of gold (chocolate) coins under pipe cleaner rainbows (thank you Tracy!)
Libby took the trap to school with her and my mom said she was excited to tell her friends how we'd caught a leprechaun, but that he'd gotten away. Oh, and the girls were in their swimsuits, because all of this went down in the middle of a "swim party" they were having. Just another typical night at home....
The trap.
Set safely in the garage.
Setting up the bait.
The little guy is supposed to climb ladder, reach for the gold and then the top of the hat (only a piece of felt) collapses and he falls in. Worked like a charm. A lucky charm.
On Wednesday, Shane and the girls made a St. Patty's Day cake. Green, of course. We'll get the little guy next year....
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