April the First

The first day of April is one of my favorite days. Well, if I were totally honest, I'd admit that I don't need a day on the calendar to give me permission to play a good prank of two, but it is nice to have someone say it's almost mandatory to trick someone today.

Of course I do also have to put up with the little ones attempting to tell me that my hair is purple (April Fool's) or that my shoes are on the wrong feet (April Fool's) but it's all because they're learning and at least they are making an attempt. They could, like some people, grow up to be ignorant in the way of fooling others. Some people have just not been reared in the fine art of prankstering. I know. I married one. Don't feel bad for him, though. He has all kinds of other talents like getting good grades, earning degrees, and teaching teen-agers how to drive. We compensate for his lack of skill in the area of trickery by keeping him in the dark about our plans. It also means that he's also pretty easy to fool.

Like that time I called and left a message for him, pretending to be a receptionist from a certain doctor's office he really wanted to visit. He was so fooled by my accent that he called me and had me listen to the message to see if I could help him figure out who it was.

Or the time I showed him a positive pregnancy test that I borrowed from an expecting friend - and told my unsuspecting husband that we were expecting Number 6, when Number 5 was not even a year old. He was ready to call that doctor's office from the previous prank as soon as that conversation was over!

So I realize that since his children have received genes from both of us, I have my work cut out for me. It means that I have to start my April Fool's planning on April 2 so that I'm ready for the next year.

Shoun came down to breakfast this morning and between chuckles told us that when he unrolled the toilet paper, he found a note saying, "Help! I'm locked in a toilet paper factory and I can't get out! Save me!" When I asked him if he had saved the poor guy he came right back with, "Well, I didn't know where the toilet paper factory was." Good guy. Fast learner. The best part was that he assumed Mariana was the culprit so when she came down in the morning (keep in mind that she's not a morning person), and we were all laughing at her good joke, she just stared at us with a sour look on her face.

God helped me out with the next trick. As each child came to the realization that it had snowed last night, I shouted, "April Fool's! It was really me. I just went outside last night with a bunch of powdered sugar and sprinkled it all around so you'd think it was snow. Good one, huh?" Eden thought about this for a while before asking if that stuff I sprinkled outside would be okay to eat. I assured her it would be fine. "Good," she said, "Because someone might think it's snow and start to eat it."

Catching on quickly Shoun then rubber banded the sink sprayer handle so when Mariana turned on the sink, she got a shower. (Unfortunately poor Rachel got this one first. King family members need to put up with pranks, students living here for the year should not have to do so. Sorry, Rachel. Thankfully, she was a good sport about it.)

This must be why Mariana put green food coloring in the milk. Now every time I open the fridge I think someone's celebrating St. Patty's Day. And Eden had to gag down her milk because she insisted it didn't taste right. Sorry, honey. We don't waste food around here. Green or not, you're drinking it. If it's not curdled, it's going down.

Then Jesse squeezed the toothpaste onto his brush only to find that a raisin came out with the paste. He flicked the raisin in the sink which made Mariana wonder why there was a raisin in the sink (and left me wondering why a raisin didn't come out when she squeezed her toothpaste). HopeAnne just nonchalantly told me she needed new toothpaste because there was a raisin in hers. As if finding raisins in her toothpaste is a common, ordinary occurrence. You know you're a King when finding a raisin in your toothpaste is really no big deal.

And that was all before the school day started.

Poor Eden thought she was being tricked. While on a field trip she had to use the restroom. From the stall next to her, Mariana hear Eden reading out loud, "Please do not flush..." Since Eden couldn't read the word "sanitary" she decided to stop there. At this point Mariana heard Eden's frantic monologue, "Oh know, I can't flush in here. What should I do? I can't flush. Maybe I should try another one." Just as she was about to walk out the door to try another stall, Mariana stopped her, explaining that they would all say the same thing but that it would be okay for her to flush. All's well that end's well.

Supper's the next plan. I'm going with a tried-and-true meal from our very first April Fool's Day. I remember it like it was yesterday. Andrew was 4, Jesse 2, and Mariana 1. I told the kids we were having a treat for supper - cupcakes! They were thrilled. Then I placed the "cupcakes", which were really meatloaf with pink and blue mashed potato "icing" on the table. They thought I was the best mom in the world. Then, you could see the wheels turning in Andrew's head. He got a weird look on his face, took his finger through the "icing" and tasted it. His expression was priceless.

And then he cried. And yelled, "It's mashed potatoes!" And then he cried louder.

But he got over it. And this year he's glad to know that instead of being on the receiving end of our April Fool's supper, he just needs to help me pull it off.

Jesse summed it up with this statement (while I was in the midst of a fit of giggles), "Mom, I don't think you've had this much fun in one day before."

And to hear Shoun say, after the meal was over, "Mum (I love how he says that), thank you for supper." Priceless.