April Fools Jokes

Today is April Fool's Day. I grew up in a family that believed in the spirit of the day. John's family was more serious. They would never have considered playing jokes on each other. Then he married me.

Two of my pranks during our early years together come to mind. John always got up before daylight to go to work. He'd shower and dress, leaving before the sun came up. He was also in the habit of going to bed very early. He'd come home, watch television, eat and go to bed. He was a lot of fun back then.

The night before April Fool's Day one year, I went around the house and changed every single clock to read an hour later. I even knelt by the bed, carefully pulling the pin on his watch and winding it ahead an hour. Yes, those were the days before digital watches. 

When his alarm clock went off, he got up. On his way to the shower, I said, "April Fool! You can go back to bed. I changed the clock. It's really an hour earlier than it looks." He looked at me, then at his watch, and said, "Like I'm going to fall for that!" and got into the shower. He took his normal nice long shower, dressed and grabbed his breakfast while I tried to convince him that he should calm down because I really did change all the clocks. He wasn't going to believe me. Finally, he left the house with his briefcase, and I went back to bed.

About five minutes later I heard his truck squeal back into the driveway and the door slam. Then he slammed the front door for good measure and marched down the hall and glared at me. "You changed the clocks! I heard the time on the radio!" He was yelling at me! Explaining that I tried to tell him that didn't get me anywhere. He just thought it was reverse psychology or something. He didn't appreciate April Fool's Day.

The other really good joke I pulled came one year when April Fool's Day fell on a Saturday. I stayed up the night before, cutting out little circles from some flannel material I had left over from pajamas I had made for the boys. In the morning I made some pancake batter, and as they got up and came in for breakfast, one by one I served them a pancake that was flannel dipped in batter. They'd cut, and cut, and as the next kid came in, I'd switch plates and give the first one a plate of real pancakes so they could enjoy watching their brother try to cut a flannel pancake. The real fun came when Daddy finally joined us. He was not amused. Even after he got his real pancakes, he couldn't see the humor in the joke. He just didn't understand it then. 

He's come a long way. I didn't pull any jokes on him this year, and he complained. I said I was going down to do the laundry, and while I was sorting it, he came up behind me. 

"You're really doing laundry." 

"Why does that surprise you? I do it a lot."

"I thought it was a joke."

"Laundry is never a joke."

"But it's April Fool's Day."

"Oh. Okay. Happy April Fool's Day."

He looked so disappointed. 

Tonight I made him a fabulous dinner. I caught him peering suspiciously under his panko crusted chicken breast. I'm going in to put the clean sheets on the bed. I guess I'll have to short sheet it, just so he won't feel left out today.