April Fool! How a Prank Can Make You Happy.

My happiness-project resolutions include "Cultivate rituals and traditions," "Spread family cheer," "Take time for projects," and Be a treasure house of happy memories.

This cluster of resolutions runs together – meaning that doing a single action means I can give myself a gold star in several boxes (and yes I love those gold stars).

Last year, I decided to start doing holiday breakfasts, so these days I decorate the breakfast table for each holiday. This is easy, fun, and festive. I also decided to start playing April Fool’s pranks.

Yesterday morning, I combined the two. Before I went to bed the night before, I dyed the milk bright green -- in an opaque container. In the morning, when my two daughters were at the table, I got a big gasp when I poured the milk out onto their bowls of Special K. Much excitement. Then the green milk dyed their teeth and tongues green, another source of hilarity.

The happiness pay-off was huge. Both girls got a big kick out of it; they were very excited to tell my husband about it when he came into the kitchen; they were very excited to tell their friends that I had played a real joke on them. The morning felt special and fun.

I took a picture, so we can remember this morning for a long time.

This April Fool’s joke took me about ten seconds to pull off, but I had to decide to do it. Sometimes, even doing the smallest extra thing seems impossible, but it’s worth the effort. I constantly have to remind myself of the Third Splendid Truth: The days are long, but the years are short. I’m always happy when I take the time to observe a tradition, do a family project, spread a little cheer, take a photo.

Last year, I froze my daughters' bowls of cereal -- this year, food dye. Now I am officially out of kid-appropriate pranks. Any ideas? Please post!

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Comments

[Deborah]

Replace the contents of their morning cereal box with something kooky like packing peanuts or legos. Big laughs when they pour those into their bowls!

[Bridget]

Hey Gretchen!

Take a peek at my blog post from yesterday. Meatloaf cupcakes and mashed potato dessert...it went over pretty well. It was my first real April Fool's joke besides "hey...look at that *something* over there! April Fools!" :)

[Nicole]

When I was a kid, my mom always used to replace my fruit juice/kool-aid/etc with jello. It was still fun even after I had grown to expect it every year.

[Claudia]

To continue on your cereal theme: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/recipe-review/april-fools-day-recipe-is-this-really-a-bowl-of-cereal-046613

[Christopher]

I always find that some magic tricks out of easy magic books are good fun.

Also, making dinner food for breakfast is pretty fun ("Hey kids it's not morning...don't you remember taking a nap?")

[Vishakha]

My husband set all the clocks in the house ahead by ten minutes including son's wrist watch and car clock before the kids woke up. There was much scrambling to get ready and eat breakfast which ended with relief and laughs after he dropped them off at school and they realized they were not "tardy"

[Gretchen Rubin]

Great ideas! I especially love the idea of putting packing peanuts in the cereal box. I'm keeping a list for next year.

[Amy]

Martha Stewart loves a good April Fools joke -- be sure to check out her food pranks.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/clyplh

[Joanie]

My kids and I always prank my husband and they get a kick out of "planning how to get dad" every year. This year, my daughter turned on the TV to Hannah Montana and turned around the batteries in his remote (so it wouldn't work). And since my husband always washes the pots and pans after dinner, my son filled our clear dishwasher dispenser with olive oil instead of soap.

Years past we've sewn up the fly on his underwear, replaced his beloved pepper with black dyed sugar, left only heavily scented rose soap in the shower.... the list goes on and on. Thank goodness he's a good sport and always loves it!

[Véronique]

This is not a joke for family members, but this year, in France, the railway company asked the man who makes the french voice of Homer Simpson to announce the arrivals, departures and delayed trains, along with funny comments. The idea came from a facebook group of 140 000 members asking for Homer to make the announcements in train stations.

[FupDuckTV]

Holiday Breakfasts are one of your better ideas... but, I don't participate in April Fools jokes. Often pranks inspired by April 1st can become cruel and mean. Alot of people just really miss the point of the day.

[Kristin]

I love these April Fool's jokes- I have done quite a few of them in the past. One year I put raisins in the kids cereal, pretending they were bugs- they beleived it & almost threw up! I've learned to be a little more careful after that!

[Positively Present]

What a great story! I'm sure your girls loved it and you definitely made a great memory with them. This is a small thing, but I'm sure it had a big (and happy!) impact on them. Thanks for reminding us of how just a little bit of fun can bring a lot of happy into the lives of others.

[Tracy]

Family Fun magazine always has a lot of ideas. I love the one where you make a "model" of dad sitting at the table reading the paper.

[MA]

I heard about a dinner party where the hosts served everyday dishes from the most random of containers and surprising places: mashed potatoes from an ice cream container, edible flower arrangement (made with vegetables OR fruit), blue jello served from a fish tank for dessert... The meatloaf cupcakes that Bridget posted could work well with this theme! Here's a link for a "Fauxberry Pie"... http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50523 (really a shepherd's pie in disguise!

[Lisa M.]

I packed my son an April Fool's Day lunch. I also dyed his milk green, and his lemon yogurt was blue. I opened his granola bar and cheese cracker packages, switched the contents and resealed them. I removed the Dole sticker from his banana and replaced it with a sticker with his name. I took a bite of his PB sandwich and for a treat he got a chocolate dog bone. I included a note that said April Fool's to make sure he got the joke. He said his entire class laughed all through lunch, as did their teacher and the cafeteria monitor. Well worth the few minutes it took me. He begged me to do it again on April 2!

[Amy Wilson]

Hi Gretchen - My husband wooed me because of an April Fool's joke:

http://talentedapps.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/career-development-for-fools-and-foolers/

So, I definitely connect April Fool's jokes with happiness.

Thanks :)
Amy

[Louise]

I would think that as your girls get older they might enjoy helping you plan a prank to play on their Dad at breakfast. Lots of bonuses this way: the traditional breakfast, planning a project, spending fun time with your daughters, making memories. Then the whole thing doesn't fall on your shoulders and you could take a different role, like filming his reaction.

I think it is really neat that you consciously started these holiday breakfasts for your family. I'm sure your girls will continue it with their kids and it will be fun for you as a grandma, too!

[LP]

Ugh - if my parents had done that to me as a kid, I probably would have interpreted it as 'being mean' and retreated to my room for the rest of the day. Luckily, I think my parents got this about me, because there were no April 1 pranks in our house. It's good that your kids are not as sensitive about such things.

[sm]

your idea is great,
may be next year i can try
other ideas are very also very good.
good site.

[Mavis]

Gretchen, I think my mom must be like you. When we were young her pranks were to roll out hamburger into spindle shapes and bake them in the oven. Supposedly it was because she had hot dog but no hamburger buns. Think of what they turned out to look like. Our pal from upstairs saw our burger dogs that looked more like dog poop and roared "Oh no, you're not eating that!" Mom told him we were kind of broke. He just howled and ran out. We died laughing because we had had the same reaction.

One other year she died everything we ate green for Saint Patrick's day. She was always full of these pranks still talked about to this day.

PS green mashed potatoes are hard to swallow.

[Dr. Russ Buss]

A fun April Fool's joke as giver or receiver can be a personal resilience builder. We all worry too much about being embarrassed and looking foolish to the point we of feeling helpless and hopeless, afraid to move ahead and try new things or projects. Learning to "take a joke" can be be quite character building and sharing a joke just helps us all let down our guard and act foolish. What fun!

[Jennifer Floyd]

I'm a little late, but as a kid I remember my mom cutting off the end of the toothpaste tube and replacing the toothpaste with peanut butter. It was a big surprise to squeeze that out on my toothbrush...