Today’s Saturday Sidebar is about, well, St. Patrick’s Day.  In many places, it’s more than a religious holiday, it’s also a cultural holiday.

“Will you be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day? If so, how? If not, how is St. Patrick’s celebrated where you live?”

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

Maggie Ellison of South Carolina, USA writes:
“St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in my family with parties, parades, green beer, Irish music and stories of leprechauns! For the kids, we hide gold coins and do silly things around the house, so they think the leprechauns played funny tricks on them. It’s a great day in my family!!!  (You can read more of the details in this post I wrote about it last year.)”

Multitasking Mumma of Ontario, Canada writes:
“We won’t be celebrating St. Patrick’s day other than maybe doing some little crafts… if that. My daughter is too little to understand what it is and culturally we aren’t Irish.”

Jennifer Burden of New Jersey, USA writes:
“We’re not Irish, but I’ll be cooking corned beef and cabbage that day. And we will be wearing green!”

Eva Fannon of Washington State, USA writes:
“I don’t have any Irish heritage, but growing up one of my dear friends was Irish, so I got to be Irish for the day and celebrate dinner with her family — delicious corned beef and cabbage!

Here in the Emerald City (aka Seattle) there will be an Irish Festival at the Seattle Center.  There will also be a St. Patrick’s Day Dash and a St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

On the home front, this year my oldest (5 yo) has taken a keen interest in trying to catch a leprechaun (I have her school friends to thank for this).  She has informed me that if I don’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, a leprechaun is sure to pinch me.  Also, if we can manage to catch a leprechaun, he will give us a choice – grant us a wish, or give us his pot of gold.  (Anybody have any tips for catching a leprechaun?)  And in case you were wondering, she said she would choose the pot of gold….she’s just wondering how we will get to the end of the rainbow to pick it up!”

Mamma Simona of South Africa writes:
“In South Africa a lot of people wear green on St Patrick’s Day – whether they’re Irish or not! Mainly it’s used as an excuse to party and most bars & restaurants offer specials on the day, and retail stores sell funny hats and other things with slogans such as “Kiss me I’m Irish”! Obviously it’s a big deal for all the Irish who live here and they often have parades etc.

My cousin’s name is Patrizio (Italian for Patrick) and most Roman Catholics believe in honouring your “namesake” (the Italians call this day your “Onomastico”) so you usually get made a fuss of on “your” Saint’s day. My grandmother knows the dates of all the saint’s days which correspond to names of relatives, but I don’t. Many Italian diaries and calendars list the corresponding saint’s name on each day of the year, but in South Africa it’s not something we pay attention to.

No matter your beliefs, have a Fun Saint Patrick’s Day! 🙂 ”

What about you…will you be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day?  If not, how is it celebrated in your corner of the world?  

And do you have a question you would like to pose to our WMB writers?  If so, email us at wmbsidebareditor@gmail.com to see what they have to say.

Don’t forget to visit us tomorrow to check out the travel itinerary for next week!

– World Moms Blog

Photo credit to Mary http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbsz/6808463445/.  This photo has a creative commons attribute license.

World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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