And then came Victor.
He hates teasing and sarcasm and jokes (unless he's the one behind all of the above).
April Fool's Day lost some of its luster.
Planning for the glorious occasion involved more than just stuffing a few tricks up my sleeves. It also meant figuring out how to gently ease Victor into the fun.
So I froze the apple juice in a cup with a straw.
Then when he wasn't in hearing range, I clued all the other kids in. "Now, for supper, I'm going to have frozen drinks. When I hand you a cup, please make a big deal about how you can't get the juice out. And be model children, showing Victor how to handle disappointment."
What a way to ruin the fun.
But it worked, by the time he got his drink, along with a whispered, "Remember it's April Fool's Day..." he handled his frozen juice just dandy. It didn't hurt that there was a normal cup of juice just waiting in the wings.
During those Victor-free moments before dinner I had also told the kids, "And after supper I will suddenly remember that we forgot to get out the baked potatoes. Please make a big deal out of how this baked potato doesn't look quite like a real baked potato, is cold instead of hot, etc. Then please take a bite and go overboard about how good it is."
It went off without a hitch. Since he's not a fan of baked potatoes, he first announced that he was not going to eat one. But it didn't take much convincing once I whispered, "Remember, it's April Fool's Day..."
And while the holiday might not be as much fun as it used to be, conjuring up memories of Andrew wailing into his cupcakes (meatloaf with mashed potato icing) and Isaac crying over chicken pot pie (pies with pudding "gravy" and Starburst "vegetables" and who-knows-what-I-can't-remember "meat pieces") are enough to send me into fits of laughter.
No comments:
Post a Comment