How April Fool’s day can be a source of happiness.

I played a great April Fool’s day trick on the Big Girl (the Little Girl is still too little to understand the idea of “tricks”). Last night, I put a bowl of Cheerios and milk in the freezer, and this morning, I presented it to the Big Girl with a spoon.

I watched as she tried to dig in, then stopped in puzzlement.

“April Fool’s!” I yelled.

She really got a kick out of it. She took the bowl into the Big Man to show him. Then twenty minutes later, she played a trick on me, by telling me the wrong time so I started racing around, worried that we were going to be late for school. She was thrilled by the morning's tricks.

But last night, already tucked into bed when I realized that I’d forgotten to prepare the bowl and freeze it, I was tempted to drop the whole idea.

Then all my resolutions started neon-flashing in my brain: Take time for projects, Spread family cheer, Cultivate family traditions, and “Laugh out loud.”

So I reluctantly got out of bed and headed for the kitchen. This morning, I was so happy that I’d taken the time to set up the joke.

That’s why I think that my Resolutions Chart works so well. Because I review my resolutions constantly, to give myself a star or X mark, my resolutions are highly “accessible” in my brain. They float through my mind many times a day – and that helps keep me on track. (If you’d like to see my Resolutions Chart, look in the left-hand column for how to get a copy.)

Because the fact is, life is more fun when I take the time to do silly things, like play an April Fool’s trick. Little kids really enjoy that kind of thing. And so do I.

Now, what would be a great trick to play on the Big Girl next year? All ideas welcome.

*
A fantastic site with a huge amount of helpful, interesting information is 43 Folders.

*
New to the Happiness Project? Consider subscribing to my RSS feed: Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or sign up to get email updates in the box at the top righthand corner.
If you're starting your own happiness project, please join the Happiness Project Group on Facebook to swap ideas. It's easy; it's free.

Comments

[Susannah]

That was a great trick! I remember my mom would make a glass of blancmange in my milk glass for breakfast. It looked just like milk and I could eat it with a spoon - yum!

[Michelle Potter]

My birthday is in April, so my mom used to wake me up on April 1st with a big, "Happy Birthday!" It would take me a minute to wake up enough to realize it wasn't actually my birthday. ;) (Note: don't do this to children who are too young to know when their birthday really is, or they'll be disappointed.)

[Dr. Nicole Sundene]

That is a great idea! I once put powdered sugar in my sisters bed because when you sleep at night and get sweaty it makes "frosting"...but that is kind of mean.

My best all time prank was when I packed up my super lazy bosses desk in a box, all his pictures, papers, books and labcoat with a note that said "Michael please come see me immediately" signed by his supervisor.

Funny thing was that he actually got fired for real a week later...

But that was kind of mean too..

Hmm I guess I don't have many nice pranks!

[Jennifer]

My husband doesn't appreciate pranks. He doens't get jokes either, so it's not much fun to tell them to him. It's funny, he's very intelligent, but doesn't get a joke. :) You should witness him try to tell one. Usually he doesn't get it himself, so when he tries to tell it, it's just funny cause he doesn't get it.

[Melissa J]

Gretchen, that was a good one today with the cereal.

For April Fools Day, my "big girl" (age 9) and I have always enjoyed playing a trick together on her father. We have a lot of fun planning it, and putting it into action (sorta like your surprise party theme...). Anyway, we usually think of something to do to him, and now lately, it's a double-whammy, because my husband and my daughter join forces to get me. Double fun. What I'm trying to say is, I think she likes the planning with each of us in confidence to "get" the other one. Our tricks arent't all that elaborate, usually along the lines of the fake spider under the dinner plate...

Thanks for the thought-provoking and action-inducing web-site. I enjoy your posts.

[mamacita]

At our house, the boxwood in front of the house bloom in marshmallows on this one day of the year. Little-known fact.

[Outdoorgrrl]

I too was reminded today what fun April Fools Day can be. Three law school classes (a whopping 240 people) switched classes without our professors being the wiser. When they showed up in their normal classes to find a room full of people they didn't recognize, their surprise was priceless. The bonus for us was their decision to remain and teach our class instead of going to find their regular class.

[Susan]

I filled the basin in my mom's bathroom with a "pond" of blue-green jello complete with a ceramic frog and swedish fishies swimming in it so she'd see it up close and personal when she leaned over to wash her sleepy face first thing in the morning. (I lined the sink with plastic wrap first!)
Next year, though, hubby is going to get his card "filled" with packing peanuts! (I'm going to tape brown paper to the back of his windows and fill the gap between the windows and paper with peanuts. It's gonna be great!!

[Jessica]

I had never done a trick until this year. I called my parents with a crazy (but amusing, not scary) story that really had them going. They were pretty tickled by the whole thing, and it really made my day. This will definitely become a regular thing for me -- what a nice little happiness bonus. :-)

[Lisa]

My mom used to set up a fun trick. By holding a piece of cardboard up to the medicine cabinet, she would fill up the interior with ping pong balls, close the medicine cabinet, and then carefully slide the piece of cardboard out. The next morning a good surprise awaited when we went to brush our teeth! One year, we also gave my dad a message to return a call to a Mr. Lyon and left him the number for the Denver Zoo!

[gamermk]

It's funny you should say that. I didn't the exact same thing with my website. I really had no plan for an April Fools joke and then just as I was on my way to behind, it hit me. I hesitated, but ultimately did it... finishing at 1:30am.

I definitely was tired all day yesterday, but it was oh so worth it. Laughter is such good medicine.

[Tia]

That cereal story made me smile. Just wanted to thank you for sharing your thoughts--I've enjoyed reading your blog immensely.

[Edna]

These are fun to read. I have two pranks that are long remembered.
One year my older brother got my uncle who is a doctor to put a cast on his arm and we all thought he'd broke it ... gave him so much sympathy etc. That was kind of funny but what was really funny was when he really broke his arm the next year and we didn't believe him. What are the chances?
The other prank is one my husband put together for me at my office. It was targeted at my assistant director and the rest of my staff were in on it. He put a plastic covering over the opening of the jug of water in our water dispenser and put gold fish in the bottle. We all pretended we didn't see the gold fish and drank the water, which, of course was good water because the actual bottle was sealed. We had her thinking she needed a trip to the psychiatrist.

[laeroport]

One year I put small post-it notes that said "April Fools" on the bottom of each optical mouse in my office. My co-workers went to use their computer and the mouse failed to work. Harmless and gave everyone a giggle. ;)