saints and angels

Just as Middle hopped out of the car, I slipped a teeny saint into his hand. Because I had forgotten to do it earlier and had dug it from a pocket in the car, I'm assuming it was St Christopher, but it doesn't matter - I interchange them for all occasions.
Several of us carry little pocket altars in our bags and we always have silver acorns when we fly.
(Acorns symbolize long life.)
Oldest has gotten used to asking for one for a friend traveling overseas and has The Powerful Hand of God medal in his wallet.
K doesn't leave the house without having Han Solo in his messenger bag - somehow we decided, about twenty years ago, that K would always be safe with Han.

It's my maternal grandmother's fault. She was Catholic and I didn't realize it until I had children who could get sick, but she'd ask to 'bless them' with a saint from her pocket.
I like it on many levels -
it can't hurt to get a blessing
there's a tangible thing you can hold if you're worried
they are often interesting little objects.

Via Schott's Original Miscellany:

Patron Saints

Barbers..........................................................St Louis
Artists & Creatives......................................St Luke
Cobblers........................................................St Crispin
Florists..........................................................St Dorothea
Editors...........................................................St John Bosco
Sculptors.......................................................St Claude
Tailors...........................................................St Homobonus
Wine growers...............................................St Joseph
Pin makers....................................................St Sebastian
Lighthouse keepers.....................................St Venerius
Bee keepers..................................................St Ambrose
Speleologists................................................St Benedict
Gravediggers................................................St Anthony
Bakers...........................................................St Honoratus
Domestic servants......................................St Zita
Tax collectors..............................................St Matthew
Broadcasters................................................St Gabriel
Horses...........................................................St Giles
Dairymaids...................................................St Brigid
Taxi-drivers..................................................St Fiacre
Librarians.....................................................St Jerome
Pilgrims.........................................................St James
Singers...........................................................St Cecilia
Invalids..........................................................St Roche
Bricklayers....................................................St Stephen
Children.........................................................St Nicholas
Miners............................................................St Barbara
Syphilitics......................................................St George
Hoteliers........................................................St Julien
Diplomats......................................................St Gabriel

We're off to a first communion today.
I bought my nephew a military video game which everyone assures me he's allowed to play and a medal of St Michael, the patron of soldiers.