So, I recently gave you the scoop on who the schmell St. Patrick is (was). Now we are faced with another holiday that is at least equally mind-boggling. Where did April Fool’s Day come from??

Way back when, in France, about 1582, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Ha! Wouldn’t you like to think I was that dumb!?! I kicked butt in 1st grade! So anyway, in 1582 the calendar system was changed by Pope Gregory XIII (hence, the Gregorian Calendar). Previously, the new year was celebrated starting March 25 until April 1st. When the calendar was changed the new year began on January 1st. Word traveled slow in those days, so many people didn’t find out for a while about the new system. Other people were set in their ways and refused to accept January 1st as the first day of the year. So, there were still people celebrating up until April 1st! What a bunch of fools! The local folk decided to make them feel even more like the morons they were by having them complete “fools errand,” which are essentially pranks. Anyway, the tradition caught on and here we are today acting like complete fools. I love it.

Want some ideas for April Fool’s Day pranks?? Of course, you do…you little devil.

1. Get an empty cereal box and frost it like a cake. Serve.
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2. Make a fake chore chart for the kids with intensely hard chores. Present it with the hubby to the kids and act completely serious. (get a toothbrush and scrub all the shoes in the house, organize the food pantry in alphabetical order, memorize 2 pages of the dictionary daily).
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3. Put a letter in the mailbox pretending it is from your kids teacher. The letter states how disruptive and unruly your child is and that summer school is recommended.
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4. Put a raisin inside a napkin. In your other hand pretend you just whacked a fly with the swatter. Go to pick up the fly with the napkin and then eat the raisin (fly).
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5. Get a fake letter from the orthodontist saying your child will need to have their braces an additional 3 years.
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6. Have someone hide in the trunk of your car (don’t forget about them). Send the kids out to get the “groceries”.
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7. Hide the baby monitor in your kids room. At night, make monster/alien noises in the other end

Computer Prank Instructions, here.

8. Tell the victim you dropped something inside the hose. Have them look inside to see if they can find it…don’t be too mean, you don’t want to squirt their eye out! Or you can also tell them the can hear the sound of the ocean, but again…don’t squirt too much or they’ll have an ear infection! On the other hand, maybe you shouldn’t do this prank.
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9. Paint dad’s toenails while he is sleeping.
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10. Put some baby powder inside the hair dryer.
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For dinner on April Fool’s Day, how about make it a silly dinner?

There are so many gross food things that you can do to make certain foods look like other foods. But frankly, I don’t like to eat gross food or spend my precious time preparing something my family won’t eat. I would much rather do something silly that still tastes good! I was thinking it would be fun to do…

A tiny food meal: Make tiny hot dogs in buns with lil smokies and bread. Make mini hamburgers, mini tacos with circular (small cut) flour tortillas & taco meat, mini pizzas (a half Rhodes roll & only 1 piece of pepperoni), etc.
You could have broken potato chips for a side (as opposed to whole chips), other small foods like grapes, corn, peas, jell-o cut into small shapes, etc.
For a drink, put a drop of blue food coloring in the milk. Blue milk, yum.

For dessert (not mini) try dirt cups! Get clear glasses and fill with layers of chocolate pudding, crushed oreos, whip cream and brownies (or any other combo of sinful goodness). Insert a gummy worm inside the “dirt”.

In parting, let me leave you with a fabulous quote…“The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.” – Mark Twain