St. Patrick's Day in America: A Conversation with my Sons

We took a little side road on our educational journey today to talk about St. Patrick and what this day dedicated to the Patron Saint of Ireland is all about. I have a strict belief that if we are going to celebrate something, we must know what we are celebrating and therefore personal convictions are born from knowledge instead of blindly following the crowd.

That last sentence is keenly relevant for the latter part of this post, the Ryland part of this post. Hang in there. . .

So amidst nightly newscasts this week about where to get the best deals on 'green beer' for St. Patrick's Day, I once again felt the need to get back to basics with a traditional lesson for my sons about this holiday. This morning we opened up several books to learn more about the life of Patrick and had wonderful, meaningful conversation. It was an educational success as far as I was concerned. And then, feeling very Charlotte Mason-ish, I asked a question.

"So, if Saint Patrick is so revered for his love for Ireland, why do you think we celebrate Saint Patrick's Day in America?"

My ever-thoughtful, completely sincere, 4 year old piped up without hesitation:

"We celebrate it here because all Americans need to know how to wear green so they won't get pinched!"

At least he is thinking and didn't just give a canned answer from what we had been studying the 15-minutes prior. And thankfully he's been ignoring the 5 o'clock newscast and didn't tell me where I could find the best deal on green beer.

***

On another note, mainly the note that is currently coming from my kitchen, we are celebrating Saint Patrick's Day with a delicious supper of Brisket, Irish Soda Bread and Buttered Cabbage.

Mmmm, mmmm!!