PSA: Leprechauns are REAL
We have a day fast approaching that is interestingly different for many people. Some don’t recognize a difference in this day at all. Some know to wear green just on the off chance that someone is brave enough to try and pinch them for not doing so. Some (especially those in their early 20s) may celebrate this day up big with lots of décor and special green beverages. Then there are a small few that know it as a day that someone, or rather something, sneaks in your home and wreaks a bit of havoc. For those in the latter category, this announcement is for you!
For the past few years I have had a very similar experience every March 17th. I go to bed on March 16th, a relatively normal boring day, and early the next morning I always wake to find quite the mess around my house. Green footprints and sometimes green sparkles will cover the floor and even the countertops. One year, my entire kitchen was strewn in green silly string. He has turned our milk green. Often I will find that someone has used our toilet without flushing and I am unsure of what they diet would cause this, but the water is green as well.
My daughter caught on a few years back and determined that we must have a leprechaun breaking into our house every year. I don’t believe that this happens to every house. I don’t know exactly how we have become a house to be targeted annually. Maybe it is because we have small kids who think the messes are funny? Maybe it’s because we often have candy such as skittles stashed in the house (I heard that is a favorite of theirs)? Maybe this is the same particular leprechaun that made a visit to my own house when I was little and stomped glitter all over my ever-stylish 90s green sweat suit that I was set to wear for the day, and he found out where I moved to? Whatever the case, each year we find ourselves in the same predicament.
Three years ago my daughter and I decided to try and put a stop to the madness. We decided that we were going to try and catch our intruder during his night of mayhem. But boy or boy, we found out year after year that those leprechauns are crafty! The boys have started showing a bit more interest over the years as well. They are still more interested in seeing the morning mess but have assisted a bit on building the new traps. Every year we come up with a more involved trap, but each year we find ourselves unsuccessful and once again looking at the note our little friend leaves behind saying, “Better luck next year!” He is practically just laughing in our faces at this point.
We have read up on some of the best material to try and improve our traps. Our favorite book on the subject the gem we found called “How to Catch a Leprechaun.” From this book we have deduced that there are for sure other families out there just like ours that have found themselves in a similar dilemma. I have seen some interesting things come out online recently showing very small and basic traps like jars and shoeboxes to try and catch these guys, but I can tell you right now that someone was misinformed about the leprechauns if they think they are the size of an elf on the shelf and could fit in one of those! I’ve seen the footprints multiple years in a row to prove it. The leprechauns that visit our house are the size of a small toddler or child, so those small traps will never work! Don’t feel too bad though, we haven’t had success with our traps yet either.
Whether your failure is due to a trap being too small or just having a super crafty leprechaun like ours that always seems to out smart our set ups, just know you are not alone. Our trap gets a little harder to get out of each year, but these guys are known for being pretty cunning. We are confident that we will get the upper hand one of these years. Even though we haven’t succeeded yet, I think our leprechaun appreciates the challenge we give him. He even leaves us some goodies on occasion to go with the mess like chocolate covered gold coins, or even rainbow slime to reward our efforts. I guess in the end having him make a bit of a mess for one day isn’t all that bad. The look on my kids faces each March 17th morning are priceless, designing the trap can be a lot of fun, and who knows, maybe this year will finally be the year that we catch our leprechaun!
