Attention Fellow St. Paddy’s Day Procrastinators!
If you haven’t heard, today is St. Patrick’s Day. To be honest, St. Patrick’s Day has never been a big thing for me. Growing up, Mom would sometimes make green scrambled eggs, and I remember trying to scrounge around to find something green to wear so I didn’t come home from school sporting “pinch” bruises up and down my arms, but that was about it.
Needless to say, I haven’t made St. Patrick’s Day a big deal for my kids either. In fact, I was proud of myself for actually buying a box of cake mix and canned frosting at the store the other day so I could tint it green for tonight. (Watch out, Martha Stewart—you’ve got some competition!) But then I started reading about all these awesome things OTHER moms do with their kids for St. Paddy’s Day and, well, I started feeling a wee bit guilty. And lame.
So if you’re like me and St. Patrick’s Day has hit you a bit unprepared, grab one of these great ideas and run with it! After all, it’s not every day we get to spend the day sporting an Irish accent that sounds suspiciously like the leprechaun on the Lucky Charms commercials without having people look at you like you’ve had one too many green Guinnesses!
Tangled and True has some FABULOUS ideas for starting a St. Patrick’s Day tradition with the kids. I love the little leprechaun footprints and the idea of putting together a basket or bucket of green goodie
s!
Amy at Blissfully Domestic has a simple but fun idea to help your kiddos write “green” poems…
Teach your kids about the origins of St. Patrick’s Day from my friend, and the person I know who loves her Irish heritage more than ANYONE, Jody from Iowa Geek! Super interesting stuff here! You can also take a “virtual tour” of Ireland on Jody’s Have Kids Will Travel blog!
And speaking of Jody, this T-shirt SCREAMS “Jody!!!” Even if you’re NOT from Iowa, it’s still a pretty cute shirt! (You’ve got to read it aloud to really appreciate it!) This is from Smash, a locally owned shop with a fun online store (AND “the greatest store in the universe,” according to their site). (Seriously, look through all of their T-shirts AND read their descriptions. I nearly bust a gut every time I browse their catalog!)
Need something fast, free, and that involves no cutting, glitter, or glue? (Yes, I’m talking to you, dear sister!) How about some St. Patrick’s Day jokes and riddles to share with your kids over the dinner table? Thanks to kaboose for this list!
Create a scavenger hunt for the kids until they find the pot of gold! Find directions here and make sure to look around familyfun.com for some other great St. Paddy’s Day ideas! My kids would love it if we could have lime punch with our supper tonight, also found on Family Fun.
So what about you? Are you a scrooge mom like me, or do you actually celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Share your ideas and traditions with us! And top o’ the morning to you!
Since my husband is Irish (and by Irish I mean, the one time I told him I thought he was only 95% Irish I thought he was going to divorce me) we usually are pretty good about celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.
This year has kind of snuck up on me though and I am not really prepared for it.
We are having Corned Beef, Cabbage, Mashed Potatoes, and I am hoping some Irish Potato Bread for dinner.
I do need some dessert. Last year I made some Guinness cupcakes which everybody loved but this year I think I will just stick with some green cupcakes (thanks for the idea).
We won’t be playing any games and they won’t be getting any gifts. but I think I will enlighten them with the origin of St. Patty’s Day.
Hope you have a great day. 🙂
I am about 50% Irish, and hubby is none…my kids are quite a mix. lol
I do green food to a point. Always in milk and already in Boo’s cereal this morning. She likes to think it is a Leprechaun.
I have never been huge on St. Pat’s, don’t know why just never got as into it as my sister does (Or Jody for that matter).
That shirt was hilarious! I just might have to get some.
Thanks for the no-mess ideas for me. Just seeing the painted green footprints at the beginning of your post about sent me into an anxiety attack. Maybe I need my own little section on your blog. You could “Pamify” everything so it fits my needs.
P.S. When the hell did Mom make green scrambled eggs? Where was I? Maybe she made them for you later after I had already eaten, since I was always up at freakin’ “way too early a.m.” I always knew she liked you best…
Okay, apparently I only IMAGINED that I had a mom who made green scrambled eggs on St. Patrick’s Day. Since Pam has the memory of a…(I forget which animal has a good memory), and obviously I do NOT, I’m going to go with her memories on this one. Hey, I say, if you can’t remember your childhood, just make it up!
Thank you so much for at least thinking that I would make you girls scrambled green eggs. (But I do remember that Grandma made you eat “try” Green Soup one time…an experience you did not appreciate at the time.)
AND I see no problem with making up anything you can’t remember. I would like to write my childhood memoirs…but since I can’t remember earlier this morning, let alone 60 yrs ago…I have asked my sister to write my life story(since she remembers everything and then some)….or maybe I should ask Daugher #2
Thanks for the linky love…If we were home (and I so must get that shirt!) I would invite you to my annual feast. As it is we will be enjoying Shepherd's Pie followed by a Magners (for Doug & I, none for the kids). For some fun projects that don't require a ton of creativity visit The Toymaker’s St. Patrick’s Day paper toys… And I have a list of favorite Irish recipes at Fab Food Friday…
Even thoough our last name is Doyle, somehow St Ptrick’s Day is not big on our radar, although I do put up a couple of shamrocks. I always plan on doing crafts but we will be doing them today (better late than never, I guess!).
Kellyn, I think you’re an honorary Iowan, so you can wear the “Kiss Me I’m Iowish” shirt with pride!
Cindy, hey, at least you’re DOING crafts! That’s two thumbs up from me for sure!
We've never really celebrated St Patricks, growing up or since I've had my own family. But part of Em's schooling today, I had her color, cut out & glue together a leprechaun. She also did a St Patricks wordsearch. That's about it.
Oh wait, a week or so ago, we did do research on St Patricks day & watched a few videos. We learned that St Patrick was only 16, and that blue was originally associated to that… and he wasn't even Irish. I think… lol Guess I need to go back & watch that video again!