Fool's Gold

Last Friday we had the day off from school, so I was sleeping in.  My phone rang at 7:15 am.

"Hey, did you look out your window?"  Old friend.  Only old friends call that early in the morning.
"I was sleeping, so I'd have to say no."
"Well, I drove by your house and there's a big statue in your yard.  Did you see the statue?"

I live on a busy street and the whole universe goes by my house every day.  So, the idea that someone left a statue in my yard was in the realm of possibilities.  I stayed on the phone with my friend as I walked around my miniscule front yard in my jammies.

"I don't see it.  Where is it?"
"How could you miss it?  It's HUGE!"
"Can't see it."
"It's a big statue of Jesus.  How are you missing this?"

No Jesus in front, none in back.  Wait....Oh, right.  It's April 1.  I resigned.

"Got it, I got it!  You got me.  Have a great day--can I go back to bed now?"

I have always been harangued by April Fool's Day.  I'm not the one making the jokes, but I'm usually the one on the receiving end.

Santino woke up shortly after that and found a cuddly spot on the couch.  Yawn.  "Oh mom, I hate to tell you this but the window in my bedroom is broken."

Sigh.  I walked into his room and checked his window.  "Honey I don't see it.  Is it a break or a crack?"

My lovely son came into the room snickering.  "April Fool's, Mom!"

So early in the morning on my day off and already I was fooled twice.  But that wasn't the end of it.

Over the course of the day, Santino gleefully told me all of the following:
1. He smelled smoke in the house.
2. My bed was on fire.
3. Baskin Robbins went out of business.  (Not true but the local BR is closed.)
4. He had a huge science project due on Monday that he hadn't started. (That one was totally believable.)
5. We didn't have the day off school after all--cruel joke by the school district.

Probably my most memorable April 1st was when my principal (a great prankster) announced her retirement at a faculty meeting.  Everybody laughed.  "No, really," she said, "I'm retiring."  Some of us called out, "April Fools!"  "Really, I'm retiring.  And I hate to leave you all."  Then we knew it was true. It was no joke.  Sadly she was gone three months later.

But I digress.  Being the target of Santino's April Fool's jokes gives me endless joy.  He's a sweet kid, his pranks are benign, and they are mixed enough with reality that they are usually believable.  He unearths every verbal prank like a nugget of fool's gold, hoping I'll fall for the trick.  He fights hard to surpress his giggles. I admit, he got me a few times, but after the first three or four pranks I was on my guard.

All in all, though--even if it's fool's gold, every prank feels like the real thing.  And I love it.