I'm an April Fool!

Normally, I don't call myself a fool. But when it comes to April Fool's Day, its an entirely different story. I get a good one pulled on me every single year and I never see it coming. You would think that after years of being tricked into believing the craziest things, I wouldn't be so gullible. But I usually either forget what day it is...or I'm afraid what I'm being told is actually true and I don't want to seem insensitive.

To be quite honest, I come from a family of great April Fool Pranksters. Of course, I was never one of them...(because I'm usually the target). So I thought I would share some of these masterpiece pranks with you in case you might want to use them too.

My sister is the one who ALWAYS can get me on April Fool's Day. It always comes in the form of a phone call...and a voice filled with tears and urgency. She called me once, saying she was in the Emergency Room because her son had jumped off his bed and cracked his head open on the dresser once again. ( He is ADHD so this was quite common when he was young) Now that I think of it, most of her calls on April Fools Day involve medical emergencies. You would think something would click in my head saying....Warning...warning...April Fool's Prank. But it doesn't. That's the beauty of the way my sister does it. She catches me off guard every time. Sometimes we can be in the middle of a conversation and she will start yelling and freaking out....leading into a tale of injury or some mishap. I think one reason I'm fooled is because I would NEVER fool someone in regard to a medical emergency because I'm superstitious enough to believe that such a prank might somehow make it really come true.

The other person who is a true April Fool's master prankster is my daughter. She doesn't do it every year, but the times she has done it are some I will never forget. I remember when she was 16 and a rebellious teenager, she handed me an envelope before she left to get on the school bus. I opened it and read a 3 page letter of how she had just found out she was pregnant...and that she knew how disappointed I would be. She said that she was sorry to tell me in a letter but she just couldn't face me and tell me in person. She explained what her plan was, and how she loved the boy....and the letter went on and on. I was in tears and all upset. About 15 minutes later, the phone rang....and it was her, asking if I had read the letter. And then I heard those 2 words I was soooo glad to hear. APRIL FOOLS! (Of course, I wanted to kill her) She told me that her original plan had been to tell me when she got home from school, but she hated for me to be upset all day.

Another time she got me was when she was around 18. She called me from her job, and there was all kind of yelling going on between her and another person. I asked what was wrong and she told me I needed to come get her, because she had just gotten fired for stealing. Someone in the background was talking loudly to her and I couldn't understand what was being said. Then my daughter starting crying, telling me to please hurry before she let somebody have it. I jumped in my car and drove to her job....about 5 miles away. I picked her up and her face was red from crying. She started talking a mile a minute like she does telling me how the whole thing was stupid and a lie...that she didn't steal anything....and that the boss just doesn't like her...and on and on. About the time I was ready to pull into my driveway, she looked at me and said...."Mom? You're gonna kill me....but APRIL FOOLS!"

Yep. Fooled again. So I drove her back to work and her boss met us in the parking lot, chuckling since she was in on the whole thing. I remember thinking..."Geez...don't people WORK anymore?"

These are only a few of the many times I have been fooled. People tell me I'm so easy and so much fun to fool. So I know its coming sometime today. I'm prepared this time. Really. I am......