march madness

it's the first of march already - that's crazy - but i do love this month a lot.  march signals winter's last dance (not that she ever had a first one this year), my birthday month, the luck of the irish and the timing of my pseudo-annual trip to my happiest place on earth: nyc.  there is a lot to love about march and apparently a lot to learn about the day leading up to it.

yesterday we posted a fun pic of alex taking a leap in honor of the leap year.  my mother-in-law then posted a comment about an old irish leap year tradition; one we had never heard of, but maybe you have?  so in honor of leap day (yesterday) and the irish (the month of march) we give you a little history lesson/trivia tid-bit that she shared with us and we now share with you:

According to an old Irish legend, or possibly history, St Bridget struck a deal with St Patrick to allow women to propose to men – and not just the other way around – every 4 years. This is believed to have been introduced to balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how Leap Day balances the calendar.

In some places, Leap Day has been known as “Bachelors’ Day” for the same reason. A man was expected to pay a penalty, such as a gown or money, if he refused a marriage proposal from a woman on Leap Day. In many European countries, especially in the upper classes of society, tradition dictates that any man who refuses a woman's proposal on February 29 has to buy her 12 pairs of gloves. The intention is that the woman can wear the gloves to hide the embarrassment of not having an engagement ring. During the middle ages there were laws governing this tradition.

those crazy irish folk.  i bet they were drunk when this "law" was enacted.