So you think you can prank?

Anyone who knows me well can only imagine how much I love April Fool's Day. Someone with my love for practical jokes tends to enjoy it just as much as Christmas, if not more.

I'm not one of those who plans extravagantly weeks in advance. And I'm not much for the "plastic bug in your food" or "I accidentally cut my hand off" tricks. Nope. I tend to strike in a more realistic and unexpected fashion.

I'll admit my day didn't get off to a good start. The Ocho and I tried to hide Handiman's reading glasses before he left for work. He's usually running around at the last minute looking for them anyway, so it seemed like a nice, easy way to begin the day's festivities. Except he chose yesterday to forget to even look for them. So, we ended up chasing him into the garage and handing them over.

But once we got to school, things got much better. I suppose I work better alone.

First, I convinced the Ocho's teacher to do the unthinkable. She agreed to reprimand my daughter for talking in chapel and threaten disciplinary action. This is funny because she holds the record for the only child in her class to Never, Ever get in trouble for anything. She's got quite the reputation and I felt it was time to take her down a notch.

Her teacher made me promise I'd come to the rescue if it resulted in tears but thankfully, it did not. Oh, she was scared. So scared that she turned beet red. But then she was told it was an April Fool's joke courtesy of her mom and she got a very good laugh out of it. So did the rest of her class.

Until she got to lunch. That's when the lunchroom monitor came over and told her she had to sit at the silent lunch table for talking. Once again she bought it. And once again she laughed.

She had to give me props at the end of the day. And I had to remind her that growing up in our house is going to require that she lose the gullibility. And fast. Or it's going to be a long, hard road of April 1st's.

I also decided to have a little fun with one of her classmates who has the exact OPPOSITE reputation in her class, if you know what I mean. She was trash-talkin' me all day and said I wouldn't be able to get her. So, when they were coming back from recess I let her catch me at her desk. Then I walked away. Of course, I didn't really do anything to her but even this morning she was asking me what I did and was a little concerned that she couldn't find it.

I'm of the belief that a little psychological torture is good for you. Especially if you're a trash-talkin', trouble-makin' 2nd grader who may or may not have bullied my daughter in kindergarten. Oh, no ma'am. A mama never forgets.

I ended my day in spectacular fashion. Since I'm on the intercom during our dismissal I decided to throw a few new names into the mix. Spongebob Squarepants was a big hit. So were Phinneas & Ferb. And when I called Kevin, Nick and Joe Jonas I thought the 3rd grade girls were going to lose their ever-lovin' minds. Oh, and one 4th grade boy actually came down to the office to ask me if Miley Cyrus had really been in the building. I told him yes but her dad already picked her up. He ran away screaming "hey guys....she was REALLY here!!! I can't believe it!!!"

So, tomorrow I'm off to spend the weekend with my college peeps, who just happen to be the ones who trained me to be a professional prankster. Good thing I'm warmed up.