Leprechauns

Apparently Emily hates leprechauns. Maybe hate is too strong of a word. I'm not really sure how she feels about them (I don't think she is really either), but the mention of them makes her get upset and cry. This reaction is obviously a bit of a problem during this time of year.
As in the past, we tried to make St. Patrick's Day fun by encouraging E and Em to build a leprechaun trap. E absolutely loved doing it last year and was really excited about it this year. He came up with an elaborate plan in his mind, and as we continued talking about it, Em starting asking more questions about leprechauns. We reassured her that the leprechaun who came to our house would be nice and not a naughty leprechaun. This didn't seem to satisfy her and eventually she was in tears, sobbing, "I don't want to catch a leprechaun. I don't want to catch a leprechaun!" With E being so enthusiastic about his plan and Em being so upset about it, we decided to have Jon take E into the basement to work on the trap, while I tried to comfort Em upstairs. All I could think was - is this really what she is worried about? Leprechauns? Really?
Needless to say, the trap was built and set despite Em's protest. And of course, not single leprechaun was caught at our house. But this didn't end here. Being at two different preschools, each place was apparently terrorized (at least in Em's eyes) by some very naughty leprechauns and Em was not at all happy about it. I believe tears were shed, and she was pacified by Lucky Charms and gold coins. But there was no way she was going to drink that naughty leprechaun's green milk.
With St. Patrick's Day in the past, I thought we would be leaving the leprechauns behind and hopping forward to the Easter Bunny. Just the other night when Em was going to bed, she again started talking about the naughty leprechauns, and this once again led to more tears. Finally, Jon flat out told her that leprechauns were not real and that there was no possible way one of them would come and bother her anymore. As Jon was talking to her, she cautiously and questioningly looked up at me for some confirmation. I simply nodded my head, but I'm still not so sure she now believes that they aren't real.