Keeping the Magic Alive

When C and S were four, we visited a very close friend from Peace Corps who lives in Sarasota, Florida. Said friend is from a wonderfully fun Irish American clan, and we enjoyed a few of her extended family's St. Patrick Day's gatherings over the years. Recently, while P and I were lamenting the fact that there would be no spring vacation for us and particularly no spring vacation down in Sarasota with L, the boys were remembering the morning they woke up at Auntie L's home on St. Patrick's Day and her milk had turned green. Imagine! Auntie L explained that the leprechauns must have snuck in and done such a deed-- the same leprechauns that must have visited my home as a kid since I remember that March 17th green milk as well. Yup, from my childhood I remember the pale green milk in our silver metal milk pitcher (my mom hated the plastic milk jugs on the table), Shamrock Shakes from McDonald's, and--oh yes, the ads for Cookie O'Puss, Carvel's lame attempt to make yet another seasonal ice cream cake out of the same darn whale mold, but clearly I digress...

So yesterday, while shopping for groceries, P decided to try to keep the magic alive. There was only one catch-- a very observant six-year-old was shopping with him.

C: Hey, what's this? [pointing to a bottle of green food coloring]
Dad: I don't know. It must have been in the cart already when we got it.
C: But why is on top of the other items?
Dad [knowing he's doomed by the logic, replies lamely]: Well, maybe it just fell in.

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Skip to this morning

3 yr old: The milk is gween! The milk is gween!

C [initially excited, but quickly puzzling aloud]: Maybe the leprechauns used the green dye that we bought yesterday to color the milk. Huh. Well, yes, because you see, Santa is real because we get presents. And the Easter Bunny is real because we get baskets. So the leprechauns must also be real because the milk is green.

So this morning, we almost lost Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the leprechauns in one fell swoop. But it seemed clear to us, C wanted to keep certain childhood magic alive for himself just as much as his parents do.