Foolin' around

It's that time of year again. The sun is shining, the days are becoming warmer, and the smells of spring are dancing through the air and up my nose, beginning a non-stop sneeze-a-thon. With the deep freeze over, Kyle and I are no longer trapped inside our apartment, forced to entertain ourselves by crawling around, taking off our socks, and throwing toys onto the floor (Kyle normally just watches me). Now we can go outside and do those things! With the dawn of spring also comes the celebration of perhaps one of the most cherished holidays of the year: April Fool's Day.

I try not to let an April Fool's Day go by without honoring its traditions. Last year I actually tricked a few people into thinking that we were going to name our son after one of my former bosses. That was a lot of fun, as some people thought we were serious and bought Kyle all kinds of monogrammed stuff with the other guy's name on it. It cost them lots of money, but we all had a good laugh. This year, though, I'm not sure what to do. Tomorrow I'm going to be spending nearly all of my time with the little guy, and he probably won't understand the joke. I could try mixing his baby food, sneaking in some peas or Tabasco sauce with his bananas, but instead of laughing and saying the baby equivalent of "Ha! You got me!" I think he just won't eat it. Maybe I could trick him by hiding all his toys and saying they were eaten by a monster, who would be coming for him next. No... I still think he probably wouldn't get it and likely would start crying. Babies are just not that much fun when it comes to practical jokes. I guess I'll have to wait a few years until Kyle is ready.

(Above: Kyle learns that a puppy did not come in the mail, despite what his dad had told him)

I do hope Kyle enjoys April Fool's Day when he gets older. I remember being a big fan of it when I was a kid. Back then I would use construction paper to cut out a big letter "B" and I'd stick it inside the closet. Then I'd tell my mom "There's a bee in the closet! There's a bee in the closet!" She'd then pull out a can of Raid, crack the door and spray the closet before completely opening the door to reveal my joke, among our now-ruined jackets and suits. I laughed and laughed and laughed. I tried it again in the following years to get the same reaction, but after a while the joke became old, and I decided to stop doing it once I turned twenty-five. I hope Kyle finds the same joy in playing a simple trick on us, though he'll have to be a little more clever to get me.

So I'm thinking tomorrow won't be much of an April Fool's Day for us. I suppose I could call Jennifer at work and tell her the apartment burned down, but considering she proof-reads my blog, she might realize that I'm only kidding. I don't think I can pull off anything with Kyle just yet, and most of my friends know better than to be tricked by me. That leaves my parents. Now I wish I had the foresight to get some construction paper and cut up a letter. I could have called them up tomorrow and said that there was a bee in the mailbox. Now THAT would have been funny!