The All-Green St. Patrick’s Day Meal

For the first 32 years of my life, I teased my mom about the St. Patrick’s Day meal that she presented to us every year. I know some families do corned beef and cabbage for their traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal. Being of Polish descent, corned beef and cabbage was not exactly unusual enough for the day. No, my mom did the all-green meal. And when I say “all green,” it was truly all green. It was always hilarious to me how much time she spent rounding up so many green things. (And what she couldn’t FIND green, she MADE green!)

What happened at that 32-year mark of my life? Why did I no longer tease my mother? I became a mother. I now completely understand the amusement of going up and down every aisle in the grocery store finding green items for the St. Patrick’s Day meal. I understand the entertainment of presenting my child with a plate of green food (on green plates on a green tablecloth with a green shamrock centerpiece and green shamrock napkins). I also understand that when my child says, “You have GOT to be kidding me,” what he really means is, “That’s so cool that you took the time to put this hilarious meal together. You must really love me.” To be perfectly honest, that’s what I really meant when I teased my mom, too.