Leprechauns Are Liars and How To Have the Best Day Ever

Also, teaching emotional intelligence to my daughter while learning it myself is a tricky little twist they didn't prep me for in parenting 101

“MOM! He took the gold and left this note!”

My six year old daughter raced downstairs first thing this morning to see if there was a leprechaun stuck in the trap she made yesterday. Spoiler alert: there was not. 

“He said he’s giving me good luck today? That’s a lie! This is not good luck! I didn’t catch a leprechaun, I didn’t get any treats, this day is the worst day EVER!”

She crumpled up the note and chucked it across the room. 

Well, that didn’t go the way I imagined it when I scribbled that note last night. 

The thing about my daughter is, she’s very into holidays. And not just the big holidays like Christmas and, you know, her birthday. But any holiday. She recently learned that April Fool’s Day is a thing and cannot fucking wait to prank me. 

I, on the other hand, find the fanfare of even the lowliest of days to be a bit much. (I also really, really hate pranks, like deep in my soul, I do not like them at all.) 

It is on brand, however, that my daughter would love April Fools Day because she also announced last fall that Halloween, my most notoriously hated holiday, is her favorite holiday ever - even more than Christmas, she says. 

And so the lead up to St. Patrick’s day (which she lovingly refers to as Leprechaun’s Day), has been fairly exceptional around our house. She’s been talking about it since Valentine’s day. 

What are leprechauns? Are they real? Why do they like gold? Do you think I can catch one? Have you ever seen one? Did you catch a Leprechaun when you were a kid? 

Of course, I dutifully helped her build a leprechaun trap yesterday. She’s pretty crafty, so she did the bulk of the work (which is great because another thing I dislike is crafts … who let me be a mom anyway?)

She informed me that if she didn’t actually catch a leprechaun, she would be pretty upset. So I should have known that replacing the pot of gold with a note from Mr. Leprechaun that said “I’m giving you good luck today!” would not go over really well. 

I thought I was being pretty clever though and imagined her being mystified by his escape and exclaiming something like “Ah darn! We’ll get him next time!” Because I am blinded by my own naivety at times and always underestimate how much heart she puts into a holiday. 

Needless to day, upon finding an empty trap, she was, in fact, pretty upset about not catching a leprechaun today. 

I found myself telling her that it might feel like the worst day ever, but we can still choose our attitude. We can choose to have a good attitude and see good things around us. Or we can choose to have a bad day and see all the bad things around us. 

“But I’m still sad.” she said. 

“It’s okay to be sad, honey.” I said, “You still get to choose your attitude and what you look for in the day.”

In that moment, I realized that we often miss a key piece in the way we process disappointment (or sadness or anger or any other uncomfortable feeling). You’re allowed to acknowledge how you feel and honor that, to hold space for it, while also choosing to see the good. 

It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Choosing to see the good doesn’t mean pretending that you don’t feel sad. Your feelings are real and valid and can be exactly as they are, while you consciously choose to see the good around you. 

One doesn’t negate the other. They can co-exist. And that’s how we move through emotions instead of pushing them down. Like it or not, those pesky emotions will be there no matter what. If you truly want to move forward, you need to move through them, not around them.

I let my daughter sit with it for a while and eventually she asked, “So the leprechaun said I’ll have good luck today?”

“Yep. That’s what his note said!” I smiled at her. 

“I think it’s true because I’m already feeling better!”

And off she went to find all the good St. Patty’s Day has in store for her. 

Now, don’t get it twisted. She is six and will, no doubt, be equally as upset about something else later today. But this morning, I’m taking the win. (And reminding myself that I, too, get to choose what I see in my day.)

Now go on and, as my favorite barista says to every single customer, have the best day ever!