Ha! Good one!

April Fools Day has come and gone, and we are still finding googly eyes glued to any number of items each day — ketchup bottles, shampoo containers, cereal boxes, bananas — you name it. This year, our boys thought googly eyes made for the perfect prank, and I have to admit that I still giggle with each new googly-eyed discovery. Much like Nerf gun darts, I expect we’ll be finding these googly eyes for years to come. Seriously, they were everywhere!

April Fools Day has always been favorite holiday for our kids, because they have carte blanche to “get back” at dad (though mom usually feels the brunt of the jokes). Always the prankster, I can appreciate a good joke, but it’s important to make sure your kids know the difference between a good  joke and a bad one.

A good prank is one that leaves both parties laughing. Sitting on a whoopee cushion in the middle of dinner typically ends in a bout of laughter that includes everyone in the room, while sitting on a whoopee cushion in church does not — usually, I guess it depends on your church. Kids need to know the difference, so use April Fool’s Day and other pranks as teachable moments. If a prank is mean-spirited, explain it to your child, because depending on their age and maturity level, they probably don’t know the difference.

Eating a mud pie might seem funny, but only if you’re not the one holding the spoon.