Thursday, March 17, 2011

To Trap A Leprechaun

Cue the green shamrocks, sparkly glitter, rainbows, pots of gold and leprechauns for it's St. Patrick's Day!  Don't let the 'ski' at the end of my last name fool you...I got the luck o'the Irish in me!

While I don't really remember much about St. Patrick's Day when I was four years old {ok...I don't really remember anything}...this day to four year olds is a really big deal!  It's not just a day to wear green...it's a day to try to trap a leprechaun...and it's serious business!

Kayla's class has been working on leprechaun traps all week.  Legend has it if you catch the leprechaun you get to keep his gold.  So they painted and glued and glittered and rainbowed and lucky-charmed some boxes...and I was lucky enough to be able to work in Kayla's class and capture the fun through my lens.  Each day this week Liam the Leprechaun has been causing mischief in the classroom...knocking over pencils and emptying the bookshelf onto the floor...leaving notes, glitter and footprints behind.

The kids set the trap and........
Nothing!  No leprechaun!  But they did get some of his gold...which the kids liked just as much.

And so they did the jig...

Just look at my girls form...she's a natural...but I am her Mom so I might be a wee bit prejudice {said in my deepest, thickest, best Irish brogue}.

And we made Irish Stew (ham, cabbage and potatoes)

And we baked some green cookies {good thing they were just for us...the sugar finger-licking might not be preferred by all cookie eaters}...and maybe it's just me but this batch was extra yummy...and she was totally adorable as she exclaimed "mmm, sweet"...

And tonight as the sun began to set and peek through our curtains making designs on our carpeted floors, my little genius announced "look, Mommy...a floor piano"...

...and proceeded to make sweet piano sounds as she tip-toed across the "keys".  Somedays I just have to stop, take a breath and soak her all up...every last bit of her creative and beautiful mind.  Somedays I catch myself going back to that dark place of unknown when she was born and when those words were spoken...the diagnosis of Down syndrome...and my world stopped.  I didn't know how much her little mind would be able to understand...and today?  Today I can tell you she gets it.  She gets it all.  She soaks everything up like a sponge and I am in awe and so glad to be soaking up these beautifully bright days with her.

This day was divine and perfect and pure amazingness...my little leprechaun totally gets holidays this year and she loves the magic of these fun days.  And today as she announced over and over "you can't catch me"...just like Liam the Leprechaun...I thought to myself...you know what?  She's right...I can't catch her...I can't keep up with her amazingly curious and wonderful mind...and for that I am so thankful...so very thankful and blessed.  Speaking of blessings...I wanted to share my favorite Irish blessing with you...May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.  Hoping your St. Patrick's Day was as happy as mine...

2 comments:

  1. I cant even tell you how reading this made me feel! It always helps to know other Moms have had the same thoughts at certain points in time. When Russell was born and I found out about the Ds thats exactly what I wondered...How his mind would work, what it would be like for him, what would he understand...And as I have watched him grow and learn this past year I see that he does understand everything around him...And reading your words today makes me feel even more at peace and happy about his future :)
    Thank you for sharing this!

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