How to Catch a Leprechaun

How to catch a leprechaun, according to my 5-year-old son:

First, check out a book about leprechauns from the library in October.  Become obsessed with being the first kid to catch a leprechaun.  Make different variations of leprechaun traps over the next months in order to figure out which one will be the best.

Second, when the week of St. Patrick’s Day arrives, forget all about leprechauns.  Don’t mention or think about them at all until your mom, who is nervous you’ll realize post-St. Patrick’s Day that you missed it and get really upset, casually says, “Do you know what Friday is?”

Third, get a box.  Your experiments have proven that all good leprechaun traps start with a cardboard box.  Rig a gold coin on a string so that when the leprechaun pulls the coin, the flap on the box falls shut.  Write “Free Gold” on the box and put a slice of apple inside to lure him in.  Put double sided tape underneath the dangling coin to catch him.  Bend up sparkly gold and green  pipe-cleaners and put them all over the bottom of the box to trip him up when he tries to escape.

Finally, ask your parents no less than one million times, “Do you think I’ll catch him? Do you think it will work?”

This is sure to work!  But if it doesn’t, I hear that leprechauns leave presents for kids who make really clever traps.  We’ll find out in the morning.