Things have really evolved. When I was younger, there were two choices on St. Patrick’s Day. You could wear green. Or you could wear green and hide it really well, pretending you weren’t wearing green. Oh the joy of deception. Kids who chose the first option, usually 1st graders, missed out on an entire day of fun. They couldn’t go around taunting everyone all day, “Come on, pinch me! See, I’m not wearing any green!” Most of the other children were either pulling the same stunt, or seasoned enough not to take the bait. “Oh yeah? I bet you are! I’m not pinching you!” But every once in a while you got lucky (it is St. Patrick’s Day after all, should be lucky, right?) and convinced some trusting young soul, perhaps with, “No really, I forgot it was St. Patrick’s Day. I promise I won’t pinch you back. You can just have a free pinch, really,” and then you GOT THEM!! TEN FREE PINCHES as hard as you could.
Sheesh. I’m having a hard time remembering where the joy was in this now. I think it must have been the fun of realizing you had duped another person, that you were a convincing debater. Then there was the group of kids who wore green on their underpants. Have you noticed that underpants are all the rage now? There are books all over the place about underpants. Captain Underpants, Charlie’s Superhero Underpants. . . .but I digress. Those kids who wore green on their underpants were in a serious pickle. Because did they show their underpants (gasp!) or just expect people to believe them when they said they were wearing green? Based on their performances earlier in the day, no one was about to believe anyone without proof. But then if they showed their underpants (gasp!) they were SO NAUGHTY!!!!!!
It’s all coming back to me now.
Well, as I said, things have really evolved. There are new rules all together. Now on St. Patrick’s Day, you have LOTS of choices. You have to choose firstly whether or not to wear green openly, and then you have to choose which other color to display. If you wear blue, you get PINCHED. If you wear red, you get (gasp) KISSED!!!!
Oh dear.
Want to see what my boys chose? Behold.
Joseph seems to belong to the reserved class. And Gideon and Samuel? Red all the way.
P.S. I’ve just recently discovered (and you are probably all miles ahead of me on this one) that spinach and eggs in the blender makes some fabulously green scrambled eggs. We always used food coloring in the past, and it’s not nearly so vibrant, or nutritious!
I would have never known about the blue and red, if not for this. Always good to know the rules. Green(spinach), scrambled eggs sound delicious.
ReplyDeleteRed = kisses?! That wasn't a rule when I was little! Though I remember one year someone decided that St. Patty's day meant you had to wear green AND orange (those being the colors of the Irish flag). So all the unfortunate kids who ONLY wore green still got pinched by the annoying orange-rule kid. Grrr. Now I remember why I didn't like St. Patty's day growing up. Maybe if there'd been a higher likelihood of getting kissed... hmmm...
ReplyDeleteWowser! I had no idea! I better get with the program and thanks for the green eggs tip because I have a huge thing of spinach in my fridge and the kiddies have been asking for gee eggs and ham. I know what we'll be eating for breakfast tomorrow. Gracias!
ReplyDeleteI was trying to figure out what the green stuff was on the kiddos plates. I'd like to give the spinach/eggs a try myself and I have one little boy who would probably giggle all through breakfast. I remember the red rule when I was little. Maybe it is a West Side thing. I don't recall the blue though. I love the boy's choices of shirts. hehe
ReplyDeleteSamuel and Gideon = men after my own heart. I didn't know these rules either, but from now on I'm wearing RED on March 17.
ReplyDelete