St Patrick's Day

I came to a realization today concerning adults. Things that are important to us (taxes, jobs, car maintenance) are not important to children. AND things that are important to children (such as St Patrick's Day) are not important to adults.

I came to this realization at about 7:20am this morning when I walked into the elementary school that I volunteer with on Thursdays and was immediately accosted by children who wanted to know if I was wearing green and if they could pinch me because I wasn't. This morning finding a clean shirt was more prominent in my mind than finding one in any particular color.

I remember thinking on Tuesday that I should remember to wear green. Because these kinds of things are important to elementary students. And then this morning I rolled out of bed, pulled on a striped shirt, and drove to the school. Fortunately for me I pulled the "adults trump holidays" card and so the children did not actually pinch me. I also pulled the "aquamarine blue is green today" card - which the children kind of nodded at.

My question is: how did a holiday centered around a christian missionary become an American holiday that focuses on pinching people and pots of gold that are hidden at the end of rainbows? And why is an Irish story celebrated in America in the first place? And of course leprechauns somehow got tossed into the mix.

(Leprechaun trap: tall ladder. "do not climb")

I suppose though we also celebrate things like pi day. So the answer then is "why wouldn't we celebrate it?"

I think I will create my own holiday and begin celebrating it.