Look, I love St. Patrick’s Day as much as the next guy painted head-to-toe in green (and I mean head-to-toe). It’s such a festive day as folks burst into flames after drinking too much Guinness and eating too much corned beef and cabbage. Sure, the hole in the ozone layer gets just that much bigger on the holiday, but it’s for a good cause.
Thing is, what about the children? Let’s face it, your kids aren’t really into drinking alcohol. And, frankly, I don’t know a young lad or lassie who wouldn’t put a bottle-full of ketchup on their cabbage just to swallow it down. Oh, you can ply them with Irish soda bread and shamrock-shaped cookies, but that involves time for preparation and cooking that can be better used for drinking Guinness, eating corned beef and cabbage, and making sure the area is clear of flammables. So, what one simple thing can you feed your kids to celebrate this holiday?
Two words: Lucky Charms.
Now, just calm down there for a moment! Yes, this product is in no way related whatsoever to the holiday. Yet, there is just enough ‘Irish’ to it to make it a least a little part. First and foremost, it’s a cereal, and breakfast is the most important part of the day. Second, it has a long history: it was created back in 1963 by the General Mills company.
Third, the kids like it! Both the little, toasted oat bits and the marshmallow shapes give the cereal a crunchy, yet cool and sweet taste that tends not to mush up after sitting in milk for long periods of time (it’s like the marshmallow shapes act as tiny sponges). Plus, the green clover marshmallows, which are part of a cornucopia of shapes that include hourglasses, horseshoes and hearts, turn the milk a pleasant green hue (or muddy green, if you’re eating the chocolate version of the product).
Finally, there’s Lucky the Leprechaun himself. Created the same year as his cereal, Lucky has been the face of this product (with a year off here and there) since its inception. Sure, Lucky isn’t the true face of St. Patrick’s Day, but he can certainly be the starting point for a discussion of Ireland with your kids that may include the lore of the leprechauns and the stories about their treasures hidden at the end of rainbows. This can turn into a conversation about the country itself. Eventually, if you get far enough without the kids going into hyper-ADD after eating a few bowls of cereal, you can tell them to avoid, at all costs, the Leprechaun horror film series that initially starred Jennifer Aniston.
I’ve heard from so many people that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. If that’s so, then can’t any food be part of that day as well? I certainly think Lucky Charms should be part of the celebration and I hope you do as well. Oh, for the older folk … if you want to make Lucky Charms a true St. Patrick’s Day meal, replace the milk with a little Guinness. I’m sure it will do wonders for the taste!
Clacked by Richard Keller 
on Mar 17, 2009 @ 11:30 EST5EDT
