Leprechauns

     When Matthew was 4-years-old he was very skeptical about Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy being real....and rightfully so.  I remember near Easter telling the kids about the Easter Bunny and Matthew piped up and said in a completely, "ya right" tone of voice while rolling his eyes, "You're telling me that a Giant Rabbit hops into our house and brings us candy?"   

     I swear the only reason Matthew tries to believe in the tooth fairy is because he wants money left under his pillow.  So, it was quite a surprise to me that this entire week he has been talking about how he and Layne are going to make a Leprechaun trap this weekend and he's just sure he'll catch one.  He knows that in order to entice the little guy we will need to get some of those chocolates wrapped in gold foil. 

     Today he came home from school with a survey that his 1st grade class took.  It said:   Number of Students Who Have Seen a Leprechaun and Number of Students Who Have NEVER seen a Leprechaun.  I chuckled that he had written "3" next to the Number of Students Who Have Seen a Leprechaun.  I asked him if he really thought 3 kids in his class had seen a leprechaun and he very seriously said that for sure they had.  Then he wanted to know why he hadn't seen one and seemed VERY upset that he's never had the privilege of meeting one.

       I guess a giant bunny is pretty ridiculous, but a little green man appearing around St. Patrick's Day makes perfect sense.  OR maybe because I have a very tender-hearted little girl who is a true believer in Santa and all the other fun childhood fantasy figures, Matthew has become a believer himself.