Not too long ago, this article about a mom who allowed her son to walk to soccer practice and concerned neighbors called the police was brought to my attention.

I say thank goodness for neighbors!

Imagine in this day and age, allowing your kid to walk the streets alone! I don’t care that it was broad daylight, I don’t care that it was only a third of a mile to the park.

Doesn’t this mom know that an abduction can happen in the blink of an eye? That it only takes seconds for some creep to grab her kid?

Sure, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Let the boy feel “responsible” by walking himself to practice. But would that tiny lesson of so-called responsibility be worth the possible harm that could come to him?

This world is a different one than the one we grew up in, my friends. Kids should be monitored and watched at all times. This mom was simply too lazy to care about her kid and drive him to practice. Having a “free-range” kid sounds a lot like a parent who doesn’t really care. It’s a heck of a lot easier to breezily send them out the door on their own than to personally chauffer them yourself.

Seriously, you never know when danger might be lurking. Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?

Sure an’ t’was with a heavy heart we realized that there could be only a single winner, and who in an Irish family every heard of a single one of anything, lest it were carved up into thirteen pieces, the better for sharing out? Begorra.

Okay, enough of that. Here’s the picture, and here’s the caption that won our long-overdue St. Patrick’s Day contest:

gemdiva Says:
March 13th, 2009 at 8:07 pm

The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported on a seasonal outbreak of the Irish Measles, a rare strain of the German Measles, features a decorative green rash as shown here on this young victim. If you are exposed to the Irish Measles, the WHO recommends a diet of corned beef, cabbage and green beer as part of a course of treatment along with large doses of Paddycillin and Strept O’Myacin.

I know, I know, two wins in 24 hours for gemdiva, but what could I do? “Strept O’Myacin” kills me!

In honour of this stunning double-headed victory, we are awarding not one but TWO fantastic, imaginary prizes. First, the thing every Irish family prayed for back in the days of Ye Olde Potato Famine or even Ye Old Conscription For Ye Boer Wars: a genuine US Green Card, with bonus Sweepstakes fantasticness (and we all know the Irish are fond of their sweepstakes, don’t we?)!

“Official Green Card Lottery”

And for our next hypothetical prize, here’s something to soothe the sulkiest rejectee: RedBreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey, without question one of the finest spirits available in the world, whether hypothetical or actual: