My Son, "Sam" (One Day Each Year)

Sam, One Day A Year; Patrick 364 Days A Year

Many of you may have read this post on St. Patrick's day last year.  But I am moving it forward to today's date for those who have not seen it.  Today is an extra special day at our house!

As many of you know, I have a son named Patrick. He is four years younger than his older brother, Scott. When Patrick was four, I was the Cub Scout Den Mother for Scott's Den.

The Cubs met weekly at my house. We engaged in the usual scouting arts,crafts, lessons and snacks. In late February, 1972, we began working on things for Saint Patrick's Day. During our meetings, Patrick would lurk in the background, unwilling to directly participate.

Whether he was too shy at the time or felt intimidated by this group of older and bigger boys I never knew. When the boys left for the day, one could frequently find Patrick, all alone, in the family room. He would be going through the motions of doing whatever we had just done at the meeting.

Well, on about March 1, 1972 after Scott had gone to school and my husband, Warren, had gone to work, Patrick said, "I need to talk to you in my office!".

Now you see, Patrick's office was in fact the kid's bathroom. He had learned that if he had an important, private issue that we could go there and close the door. Only here we would not be interrupted by others, including the many pets in the household.

We went to his "office" and shut the door. At this point, Patrick declared that he had changed his name. I said, "Oh, and just what did you change it to?". He informed me that his new name was Sam! He further elaborated that when his Dad and Scott returned home for the day, he wanted me to tell them that he was now "Sam". I agreed. We left Patrick's office and went about our day.

At the dinner table that night, I made the big announcement. I informed all present that from now on Patrick was to be called "Sam." Warren looked at me strangely from across the table. I smiled back. At that point, Warren said, "Sam, will you please pass the potatoes."

For the next week, we tried to figure out what was going on with this name change. We explored the possibility of a new fascination with characters such as Yosemite Sam, Sam I Am, Uncle Sam, etc. Nothing seemed to fit with Patrick's name change. Occasionally, we would slip up and call him Patrick....a big mistake as he would promptly corrected us.

On about March 10th, "Sam" informed me that he needed to talk to me again in his office. We took our usual positions, Patrick sitting on the toilet and me on the side of the tub. This time he asked, "When is that dumb holiday?" I was at a loss. I inquired as to which holiday he was talking about. He responded, "You know, that dumb holiday that grown ups celebrate!" At that point, it dawned on me that he was meaning Saint Patrick's Day.

I said, "Sam, are you talking about Saint Patrick's Day?" His response was, "Yes. I don't think it is fair!" I asked what could be unfair about Saint Patrick's Day.

Now, you have to understand that we are not Catholic. So the word "Saint" was not commonly used in our household. Patrick's answer to my question was that it wasn't fair because they don't have a Spank Scott's Day so why did we have a Spank Patrick's Day?

And then I knew, bless his heart, for two weeks he had been agonizing over the thought of being spanked because someone had come up with a "dumb holiday". He heard "Saint" as "Spank". Since he couldn't change the holiday, he figured out an alternate solution, he changed his name!

I felt very badly that he had been living in fear and wasn't sure that his plan would work. I took him in my arms and explained that he had misunderstood and assured him that he would not be spanked on March 17th!

That March 17th and every one since has been declared "Spank Patrick's Day" at our house. Patrick is the Man of The Hour. We call him Sam all day. He, of course, receives gentle "spanks" on the behind, funny gifts, and his favorite foods. Patrick has had a special day 37 times now to make up for 10 days of terror when he was 4! This year will be no different.

While the rest of the world celebrates Saint Patrick's Day, We will pay tribute to "Sam" and once again, are reminded that great pain can come from simple misunderstandings. And how quickly it could be erased by communicating it timely!

"Sam" learned to bead brick stitched earrings this year.  Is it surprising that his first pair were Shamrocks?  I added him to my Etsy "Collective" and listed his earrings in my store.  They sold within the first two hours.  Since he made two pairs, I re-listed them.  They were featured in a Treasury within the day.  Way to go "Sam!"

Faith and Begorrah! Have a Happy Spank Patrick's Day!