April Fools Day pranks have become harder and harder to pull off as my teen has grown older and wiser.  After past years in which I replaced the cream filling in the Oreos with toothpaste, turned the milk blue, rigged the shower for cold water only, sprinkled glitter in his hair while he slept, and asked his regular Starbucks barista to card him (new law—you can’t buy coffee unless you are 18), he looked at everything I did on April 1st as a potential prank…which, of course, I capitalized on. Yes, readers, I am a little evil.  For example, I made sure there was a new package of Oreo cookies on the counter when he came home from school, but I did not tamper with them. However, the absence of a prank is not a real prank. What’s a mother to do? Let him sweat it out on the first and move her prank to the second, of course. Yes, I know that technically that is not allowed, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

I filled a pan with Balloons.

Added lots of Chocolate icing. . .

My sweet mother is right: “Enough icing can fix anything.” I covered all the balloons in icing and added strawberries and powdered sugar to add to the authenticity.

Setup: I picked Cole up from school on April 2nd and was a little late; my excuse was that I had been waylaid by our Polish neighbor who shared a Polish dessert with us. Our neighbor is a wonderful cook, and I knew Cole would seek out the dessert as soon as we returned home.

Gotcha: When Cole cut into the cake, it deflated a little. Perplexed, he stuck his finger into the icing. It was tasty. He ate a strawberry. It was good. He then cut a slice (balloon and all) of the cake and it popped. Now, here is where we must give my kid credit. He still took a bite of the cake, at which point he declared it AWFUL  Of course, at that point I started to howl with laughter. He wouldn’t believe it was a belated April Fool’s joke until I showed him the balloons hidden under the icing. Ha. Success.

Moral: You are never too old to be fooled by your mother. I know this from experience.

Update: The Chicago Waldorf School’s senior prank was a tremendous success. The teachers were good sports, and it was good fun for everyone (especially me). Cleanup took about an hour (I did not have to help).  Six thousand cups, each with a little water, adds up to a lot of liquid, but I’m told it was worth the mess and cleanup.

Have you pulled off any or been the recipient of an Aprils Fools prank? One of my all time best pranks was not pulled on Cole, but my sweet Mom. I had friends call her pretending they saw an ad advertising her Great Dane for sale. . .

Odd Loves Company!