Gotcha!

There is nothing more challenging than carrying out a successful April Fool's Day prank on a prankster. If you read yesterday's entry, you know that my oldest daughter Jen is just such a girl. In fact, she did succeed in convincing her fellow employees that her water had broken. Obviously they don't know her like we do.

Undeterred, her two younger sisters searched and searched for the perfect prank. It started with a little goof in yesterday's blog that was hardly noticeable. But Jen sure saw it. I happened to call the little guy we're waiting on Evan. Everybody who's anybody knows that his name is Ethan. Has been for a long time. Shortly after I blogged, her sister Natalie sent her a text and asked how baby Evan was doing. We thought for sure she'd catch on, but she called her other sister, Whitney. "What's my baby's name?"

Whitney, bless her, played it straight. "Ethan."

"How do you spell it?"

"E-T-H-A-N"

"Then why do Mom and Natalie think it's Evan?"

"That's weird. I have no idea."

At dinner, we discussed the events of the day, and did a little dance of joy that Jen seemed to be swallowing the deception whole. We decided to let her in on the joke by having Natalie send another text. >>Whitney says you're naming the baby Ethan. When did you change your mind?

We sat around the dinner table waiting for a reply text, expecting her to slap her forehead and feel stupid. But no, she calls.

Looking terrified, Natalie answers the phone. After that, she carries on a full five-minute academy award worthy performance, pretending that she never knew the baby was going to be named Ethan. At one point Jen even said. "Well, April Fools, his name's Ethan." At first I thought she was telling us she knew it was a trick. But no, she was totally buying it, even though she obviously remembered what day it was. Natalie didn't even flinch. I, on the other hand, had taken my customary April fool's position behind the kitchen counter, trying to muffle my laughter. I'm very good at that job, by the way.

After the call, Jen immediately called my phone. I didn't answer, of course. I was still hiding behind the kitchen counter--clearly made up of different stuff than my valiant daughters.

Seconds later the home phone rings, and hubby answers. Being above the silliness, he informs his daughter that everyone in the family knows the baby's name. Have known it all along.

But she doesn't believe him. "Mom even blogged the wrong name!"

When she finally came around, and admitted to being "just a little upset," she reminded her dad to have me fix my blog. Yeah right. I'm not destroying a record of the time we finally got the master back. I just hope little ETHAN didn't suffer too much from his Mom's distress.