The Grand Finale Of April Fools Pranks

I must give credit where credit is due.  So first of all, I send a sincere thank you to all of the staff at my children's school who were in on this one.  Specifically our fun-loving principal and our great office staff.

Thank you.

A couple weeks ago, I walked into the boys school hoping to get my hands on a piece of school letterhead.  Little did I know the staff at the school would completely support my endeavor to fool my boys!  I shared my idea with the principal, who jumped at the opportunity to be of assistance.  She drafted the letter that I needed and the brilliant 'office ladies' addressed and mailed it, so that the smart boys of mine wouldn't notice a missing postmark or stamp.  We know that my boys are a bit too smart to buy a poorly planned joke.  We also know that they were on guard, knowing something was coming.

Waiting for this letter was harder than waiting for Christmas!

I received the ammunition for this stunt on Tuesday morning in my regular mail. On Friday, when I heard the mail carrier come up our steps, I grabbed my hidden letter and slipped it in to the middle of the mail as I brought it in the house.  I weeded out junk mail, placed a magazine on the counter and 'noticed' the letter from the school.

I slowly wandered to the boys room and inquired "Anything I should know before I open this?  It's a letter from the school." 
Like deer in the headlights. They respond together "No....."
So I sat down on the bed between them and opened the letter. "Oh, oh no... no, you guys aren't in trouble... guess what this says? This is awful."

Dear Mr & Mrs. Busymama


This is to inform you that starting next year, our super cool school will be moving to year-round schooling.  We have made this decision because we believe that this increased time in school will prevent the loss of knowledge and skills that happens over the long summer break.  This increased time at school will be of great benefit to all students.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely, 
Awesomest Principal Ever

It took a few minutes for the message to sink in.  I could see it slowly slip over their faces.  Eventually I hear 

"Well, that's dumb."  

"I'm not one of those kids." 

"I don't forget stuff."

"I remember it ALL!!" 

By that point, I had to walk away to keep my secret.  The boys decided to get dressed and go play outside.  If you read April Fools Phase One , you'll understand why getting dressed wasn't easy.  Thank goodness for my other pranks, or I would have been caught already!

For an hour or two, there was no mention of it.  So, when I was tidying up after lunch, I put the letter on the fridge door.  Just a little reminder....hehehe.

We talked about how we might have to change our vacation plans.  Macboy Jr. states "Well, in my opinion, it's still a really bad idea.  I'm not one of those kids who forgets stuff."  Art quietly agrees.

I explained that there really wasn't much we could do.  We would have to talk to dad when he gets home from work.

Ever suspicious, Macboy asks politely if we can go out for dinner.  "Then at least I know what I'm getting for dinner!"  We agree to go out for dinner after we pick Dad up from work.  We even visited a McDonald's Restaurant that we have never eaten at, since Mom was so hard on them through the morning. Sitting inside at a McD's is something we very rarely do and they've been scoping out this play room for months.  The tables in most of these places are designed for 4 and now that the angel baby is so big we don't fit.  I offered the boys the chance to sit at their own table, but Macboy doesn't want to. Art and Dad sit at the second table and I sit with the other two.

Art brings up the subject with Dad.
"Mrs. Awesome Principal wants us to go to school all year!"  he complains.
"Really?"  Says Dad.
"Yeah.  I think it's dumb.  Its Not Fair!"
Dad jumps in "I think it's fair.  I have to go to work all year."
"Sure you do.  But WE DON'T GET PAID for school!!" Dad had to get up for a minute and 'get napkins'.  We are both starting to enjoy the full benefits of this prank.  

On the way home we have to stop and pick up Dad's truck.  The boys want to ride home with him, but there is too much stuff in the back seat so they are stuck with mom in the van. Everyone shuffles one seat closer to the front.
"What do you guys think we should do about this school stuff?" I ask on the last stretch of our ride home, "It might not really be a bad thing."
"It's a bad idea."  Says Art.  "It's just a dumb idea."
"It's not nice, not fair.  Summer holidays is like the ONLY thing to look forward to in the year besides Christmas!"  Says MacBoy.

"I think I'm gonna Boycott! 

I always wanted to that, I just never had anything worth

protesting until now!"

Both boys are starting to get pretty emotional by the time we get home.  And I'm starting to feel like it's just about time to fess up.  We get in and sit down to make a list together of things to do about this problem.
1. Transfer Schools
2. Talk to Mrs. Awesome Principal
3. Write a Letter to Mrs. Awesome Principal.
4.  Call a bunch of people.  Form a big group like a rebellion.  Then PROTEST. Make SIGNS. Write LETTERS!! (Macboy's plan)

We start with a letter.

Dear Mrs. Awesome Principal.
We received your letter today about school changing to year round. We don't like this idea and would appreciate if this didn't happen.
Here are our reasons:
1. We don't think it's fair that you would agree to be part of the BEST APRIL FOOLS JOKE EVER.

And that's where I stopped.  I asked BOTH boys to read what I had so far and if it was good enough for them to sign at the bottom.

They both SIGNED.  

Didn't even look at what I wrote.  Just signed away their lives.  I'm so proud. I try again.  "Can you guys PLEASE READ what it says?"
They turn around, look at the paper and agree it looks good.
(shaking my head now....)

One Last Try....
"Okay, Macboy, I don't think your brother understands a few of those words.  Can you read it OUT LOUD for him?"
He starts reading...
"We don't think it's fair that you would agree to be part of the best April Foo--MOM!!!!"

Yep, I'm rolling around on the floor howling, now.  I couldn't even confess easily!!  I get the 'death glare' from Macboy.   "NOT FUNNY." And for the rest of the night, I barely got more than a grunt from him.  Not a funny joke in his opinion.

Art, on the other hand wasn't sure. He didn't trust me at all after our morning adventures.  He asked several times for almost an hour afterwards.
"So that was just a joke?"  "yes."
"And there's really not school all year?"  "really."
"And we still get summer holidays?"  "Yes we get summer holidays."
"And the principal helped you?"  "yes, she's Awesome!"

"well, that's just rude."