I guess I am a prankster at heart and I thoroughly enjoy pulling jokes on my family and my students. Students get a kick out of it and sometimes they retaliate. I remember one year I was trying desperately not to drink so much Dr. Pepper - because I knew it wasn't good for me. But every day, I'd go get one and have it sitting around the classroom. My kids knew I was trying to get off it, so sometime during the day, my Dr. Pepper would mysteriously disappear. I'd come in, notice it was gone and start laughing and hunting! They would be in hysterics by the time I found it. One time, I didn't find it until after school was out. They were very much pleased with themselves that time!
The first prank that I can remember playing on my son in law was when they still lived in Ponca City. Their Wal-mart at Christmas would put out these tiny bottles of IBC rootbeer- about 8 ounces I thnk. I loved IBC rootbeer so when we would visit, I'd help myself to Danny's tiny bottles. He used to harrass me unmercifully about how when I came, he didn't have anymore rootbeer because I drank it all. So one time when we went over to eat with them, I bought a pack of IBC little bottles. I slipped into his room, and hid them in his pillowcase of his pillow, pulled the covers up all nice and neat and left. The next day April called and was laughing so hard she could hardly talk. She said Danny usually got in bed, and just flopped his head down on his pillow. For some reason, he decided to pat his pillow into place that night and discovered the IBC bottles. He laughed until he fell out of bed. BUT like April said, it is a good thing he didn't just hop in bed and flop onto his pillow like he usually did or I'd have been guilty of causing my son in law a concussion!
Danny was hard to buy for - not because he was picky, but because he was content with what he had and didn't ask for much. I started giving him money to spend on lunches etc. I bought this really cool puzzle made out of plastic that holds money. You slip the money into the puzzle, and the receiver has to figure out how to get the money out. That man took exactly 10 seconds to get that money out of that puzzle. The funniest part of that gag was the look on my face when he did it so fast.
Two other times involved toilet paper. I unrolled a whole roll of toilet paper, and taped dollar bills end to end to the roll, and then rolled it all up neatly and wrapped it. He loved it! I saw a lady at a craft show that somehow embroidered a Christmas scene and a personalized name on the first sheet or two of the toilet paper roll. They were beautiful, and he loved that one. As far as I know, he still has that one.
I remember doing something to his socks, but that memory is kind of fuzzy. But my greatest prank of all time involved their swimming pool and money. In AZ, it actually does get cold during the winter and the swimming pool water is freezing! So I got an empty baby wipe box, wrapped a clue in a zip lock bag (like a treasure hunt) and put it in the box. I poured plaster of paris over it and let it harden. I wrapped it up so pretty! When he opened it, he laughed and laughed, and proceeded to break tiny pieces of the plaster off with a tiny hammer. When he saw all of us laughing hysterically, he realized that the present wasn't in the plaster, took a huge hammer, whammed it into a million pieces and got the clue.
This involved the girls because they were learning to read. So daddy had to answer their trivia questions they read to him before they would read him the next clue. This clue took him to the swimming pool. Now flashback to April and I preparing this part of the gag. I wrapped his money in several zip lock bags so it wouldn't get wet. Then I put that in a cottage cheese container with a couple of rocks, put that in a ziplock bag and tossed it into the deep in of the pool. April and I stood there with our mouths open, not believing it - that stupid carton FLOATED! We were laughing so hard we could barely talk- but we got their pool net, pulled the carton out and filled that it to the top with rocks, sealed it and tossed it into the pool. This time it sank to the bottom of the deep end just like I planned. Danny read the clue, went flying into the pool area, saw the carton and stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't figure out if he wanted to dive into the freezing water and get his package or what. Finally, he got the pool net and started fishing for his present! By this time, we are all laughing hysterically because the package kept scooting away across the bottom of the pool. He'd go to one side, try it, and it would scoot. He'd run back to the other side, and try it again. Finally, he got it out, and had to sit down on the side of the pool to open it. It was so much fun, and so hysterically funny!
Of course, that called for major retaliation - and let's just say that one of his gag gifts to me was an item of female clothing that I swore on a stack of Bibles that I would never, ever, ever have on my body. When I opened the gift and realized what it was, I stuck it behind my back, and my face was as red as a tomato. I think by this time both Danny and April were on the floor laughing! I laughed and laughed and laughed but I did not wear that item of clothing. Nuff said!
So Merry Christmas again, and may your Christmas be filled with laughter. That is what makes our life here on earth bearable in times that nothing seems to be going right. Laughter, love and joy to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment