We were able to pull off a few April Fools’ Day tricks on River this morning.

We stayed up late last night to get them set up – super late because just like Christmas Eves and the nights before birthdays, River couldn’t fall asleep and was awake until after midnight. When she fell asleep, we sprang into action. Well, sprang is probably the wrong word. Stumbled sleepily through the kitchen would be more accurate.

Here’s how it went down:

1. I prepared a bowl of cheerios with milk and put it in the freezer.
2. James poured two glasses of “juice” using Jello mix and put them in the fridge to set.
3. I added Kool-Aid to the remaining milk in the jug. I wanted to add food colouring, but we couldn’t find it anywhere and we used Kool-Aid instead. A word to the wise — Kool-Aid a bad idea. It curdles the milk and comes out like grape-scented vomit. Don’t worry — I didn’t include pictures of that one. Ew.

This morning, I couldn’t wait for River to come in for breakfast. As soon as she got up, I told her to start eating because we needed to meet the homeschool group for a hike.

Then April Fools’ Day began.

River was served a bowl of frozen cheerios that she couldn’t dig her spoon into. Once we were all done giggling at her confusion, we gave her the box of Cheerios and the jug of milk so she could pour a fresh bowl – and purple milk poured out of the bag. More laughs. Finally, she tried to drink her “juice” and it stayed firmly in the bottom of the cup.

River was absolutely delighted with each gag – she loves the idea of April Fools’ Day. She loves to listen to the Spring Sillies episode of Sparkle Stories all year round, and every time she hears it, she spends the rest of the day trying to come up with a good prank to pull on the next April 1. Which is actually a bit terrifying, because seven-year-olds don’t quite know where that delicate line is between a joke and total disaster.

One day she ran into the kitchen to ask me if my husband would be working on April Fools’ Day. We checked the calendar and found that he would be off for the day. She was disappointed. Her plan was to fill his work boots with water so that when as he rushed out the door for work, he’d discover that his feet were soaking wet. I laughed, but it was that nervous sort of this-girl-is-going-to-destroy-the-family kind of laughter.

So far it’s been okay: she offered to brush my hair, then used a brush that she ran under the tap first so that my hair would get wet. “APRIL FOOLS’ DAY!”

Hopefully, that’s the best she’s got. Either way, I’ll be hiding my suede boots until the day is over. And maybe James’ work boots too.