Be the COOL Mom this St. Patrick's Day

Some holidays I'm totally on my "A" game.  I've got gifts purchased, activities planned, and fun foods all lined up.  From the time the kids wake up, when they open their lunch at school, at dinner that night, and all the way until bedtime it's back-to-back to back fun and celebration.  And that's not just for the big holidays.  We celebrate the little ones too.  Last Veteran's Day my five year old came out of his room proudly wearing every ounce of camouflage clothing he owned.  One year we hosted a costume party for Presidents Day.  We wore cotton ball beards and top hats, made campaign posters, and gave acceptance speeches.  It was great fun (my only regret is that it took me the next two years to grow out the bangs I had hastily cut in an effort to make my Sarah Palin costume more authentic).  It's always so much fun.

But some times it's just not.

Some holidays not only am I not on my "A" game, I'm not even on my "Z" game.  Often I don't have a game at all.  The kids come home from school waving their bags of Valentine goodies, and I think, "Is it Valentine's Day today?  Really?  Hmm."  I'm a human being with finite time and brain power.  Some days are just not as exciting as others.  And that's okay.

So maybe today is one of those days for you.  Maybe you didn't even realize it's St. Patrick's Day today.  But chances are your kids know.  And if they aren't talking about it before school, you can bet they will be talking about it after school.  Do you have the strength in you to make today special?  (It's okay if you don't.)  But if you're up for it, follow us on a journey toward maximum fun with minimal effort.

We scoured the globe (AKA Pinterest) for the quickest, easiest ways to make you a holiday seem fun using stuff you probably already have at home, and without actually taking too much effort.  Any one of these will probably be enough to convince your kids you are awesome.

Before School:

If you are lucky enough to realize what day it is before the kids leave for school, here are a couple of fun things you can do.

Food- A few drops of green food color and your scrambled eggs just became green eggs and ham!

Clothes- Put on a green tee shirt.  How hard is that?  If you've got a strip of green fabric, tie it around your child's arm and declare them a member of the Leprechaun Army!  If you have any other color of fabric, draw a green shamrock on it, tie it around your child's arm, and declare them a member of the Leprechaun Special Forces.

Hair- A little bit of food coloring (or Jell-o or Kool-Aid) will turn lighter hair  a beautiful green.  It only takes a minute to do, but will make your kids happy all day.  Disclaimer: be careful here, it might take awhile to fade completely.

Prank- Make green toilet water and leprechaun footprints.  This looks super funny, but I honestly don't know if it would work at my house.  I think a little bum would sit on it without even noticing, then I'd just have green footprints smeared on somebody's hind end.


After School:

Food-
Green peppers look like shamrocks when you slice them.  Eat them raw with ranch, on a slice of pizza, or on top of a casserole.

Cut thin apple slices and shape the edges to look like shamrocks.

Make leprechaun juice with sprite and lime sherbet.


Craft- Long strips of paper folded and stapled into hearts, then hooked in sets of threes.  Does it get any easier?  Yes.  Just cut out three hearts and glue them to a piece of paper.  Bam!  St. Patrick's day craft done!


Bottom line, it doesn't have to be big.  One small gesture can be enough to make the day exciting.  So don't over think it and don't stress.  Just do it.

Good luck! ;)


Marcia