Luck of the Sweet Peas

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope no one got pinched today. I know we all had our green on. There have been many years where I have forgotten to wear green and I received my share of pinches. But Sweet Pea wasn't going to let me forget this year.

When I picked SP and her friend, 'J',up after school, they were both chattering about the Leprechaun trap set up in SP's friend's class. From what I could eavesdrop, her class decorated a box and placed various Leprechaun treats inside. I asked, 'J', what kind of treats do Leprechauns like?

She said, "I don't remember. Pretzels I think."

I then inquired as to what they were going to do with their Leprechaun if they actually caught one.

"We're going to keep him in the empty fish tank and look at him.", she answered.

That sounds like a lot of fun for the Leprechaun.

That night, SP's creative energy was buzzing. When bedtime rolled around, she had her own Leprechaun trap all ready to spring in her bedroom. On the floor at the foot of her bed, SP had brought up her indoor tent to sleep in and be ready for any Leprechaun action. Firstly, she made a trail of homemade paper money, coins and bills.

The Whoopee Cushion was at the start of the money trail, right next to her pillow, and acted as the 'alarm' to wake SP in the night so she could exit her tent and watch the Leprechaun greedily follow his trail to entrapment.

She then rigged her waste basket with string.

Next she ran the string across her bed and anchored it to her book baskets. Her horse 'Paint', her lamb and her dolphin all pitched in.
The final 'bait' was a half box decorated with a picture of 'Leanie (pronounced Lennie) The Leprechaun', with a half empty box of Jolly Rancher Chews and an acorn from who knows how many summers past. This was where SP, after her Whoopee Cushion wake up, would pull the string and drop the waste basket on her unlucky prey.

When Lady Di saw the energy and excitement that SP was putting into her creation, she just had to put her Keep-Your-Room-Clean Mom sense away for the night.

Before going to bed, I asked SP the same question that I asked her friend. "What will you do if you really catch one?"

"I will probably just talk to him a little and then set him free.", she said.

Sounds like a catch and release program.

In the morning, before SP awoke, Lady Di snuck into her room and place a St. Patrick's Day scarf under the waste basket and stepped on the Whoopee Cushion as she stealthily slipped out of the room while SP was still groggy.

SP came running into our room with wild eyes to show us what she had trapped. "I told you they're real!", she shouted. "You didn't believe, Dad didn't believe and Number One Son didn't believe! But I knew all along."

So she got to wear a really cool scarf to school that all her friends oooh'd and aaah'd over when she told them the story.

I think Leanie followed her home from school to take his scarf back.

Happy Green Day!