This morning I was driving to work and was reminded by NPR that it was April Fools Day and my heart jumped a little. I had a pep talk with myself with reminders to be extra alert to possible April Fools tricks all day. DON'T BELIEVE ANYONE! I was prepared for the worst.
Upon arriving at school and interacting with a few kids, I realized that I didn't really have much to worry about. The kids seemed to have no idea how to execute an April Fools joke. I suppose I had my adult co-workers to fear, but not much can really be done because we all need to be "good role models" for the students, of course.
For this post I decided to share some of my favorite lines from April Fools Day 2010. I also provided some commentary following each quote. It should be noted that I did not verbalize any of these thoughts to the children. They remained in my head and now they will be just between us.
On my report card I got an F...April Fools! (Probably actually true.)
I finished my work!...April Fools! (This girl rarely finishes her work, so I was on to her immediately.)
My mom died...April Fools! (We had to talk to this girl about not using death as a joke and later I heard her change it to "My mom had a heart attack!" Guess we sort of got somewhere.)
You killed my grandpa!...April Fools! (I didn't realize April Fools jokes could get you arrested. That kid's grandpa gets murdered and guess who they'll come to first!)
Rock Chalk Jayhawk!....April Fools! (Ok, that is just rude.)
There is a plant in Mr. Myer's room...April Fools! (I have to admit, he did get me with this one.)
Do you see Derrick?...April Fools! (This one frustrated me because, yes I had seen Derrick.)
My mom has a candle...April Fools! (This one came from the same kid who made the plant joke...got me again!)
(Pointing down) Your shoe has...April Fools! (What? He was pointing at my shoe and talking about my shoe. Why wouldn't I look? The "made you look" jokes were the most popular today.)
I mean, you have to give them credit for trying. I think they sort of get the idea. If any of you have fears about April Fools Day, I would highly recommend working with kids. Even if it is just for this one day of the year. As you can see, they don't really get it. All you have to do is act fooled every time they say anything and look every single time they point at something that you know isn't there. You could even rename this day to "Made You Look Day" if that would take away some anxiety.
And I'm pregnant. Ha! April Fools! Did I mention that I don't really like fooling people either? I am already feeling bad for writing that and sort of want to delete it.
