The Seventeen Days of March

I thought Santa would be the big deal here. And don't get me wrong - he is- but want to know who beats him? Leprechauns!

Yes, those green little rascals that never seem to get caught yet somehow seem to get into more and more trouble each day- those guys.

The leprechaun talk starts just after Valentine's Day here and I have to remind her that the little greenies are sleeping and don't wake up until March. In hindsight, I should have told her they don't wake until the night before St. Patrick's day, just like Rudolph does for Christmas - but you know what they say about hindsight.

I didn't and now I have painted myself into a green-tinted corner where every night for the next 16 nights I have to dream up some trickery or tomfoolery those little green rascals have done while she's asleep that she discovers in the morning.

The elf on the shelf has it easy. He just moves around the house - and for not as long either. Isn't it about 12 days for him? I've got it much worse and I have to find trouble these little green guys get into each and every night. I'm not my most creative just before bed (this entire site is proof of that) so this really takes some work on my end.

In the past I have sprinkled cheerios around, moved toys - but that's only two nights - and then I'm pretty much out of ideas for the next 2 weeks.. This is one of the hardest moments of parenting I have had to deal with.

I have nobody but myself to blame for this either. It's one thing to take a few cookies and make some crumbs for her to discover in the morning. It's another ballgame when you are on the sixteenth night in a row and you've run out of ideas.

Of course leprechaun hunting would not be possible without a trap, so I present to you the leprechaun trap of 2025:

This is serious business, this leprechaun trapping: She even had a list of stuff we needed.

There were a few more things she wanted to buy but I managed to talk her out of them and convince her we had more than enough green crap to glue to an Amazon box.

This was all her idea. I drove her to the dollar store and found her a box and she pretty much took it over from there.

Inside there was some green cloth and of course gold coins because they sure like shiny and then a few green bows to make it a party. Then for the ultimate in trapping technique she found some green toothpicks that I guess is for stabbing them with? I didn't ask.

It was her idea to stick the flowers to the lawn outside so that the house would look even more attractive from the outside. Even leprechauns need curb appeal to be caught.

This is one mean looking trap and surely this year we should be able to trap at least one of the little buggers, yes?

Wish me luck. I'm going to need it.