Laughter is the BEST Medicine...Even With Chicken Pox

April 1st, April Fool’s Day, is one of those days that is BIG in our home. It’s a holiday worth celebrating in our books because the focus is on laughter, a great sense of humor, and creativity (which are all traits we find important)! Life is serious enough…so a day like today I, along with the rest of the family, welcome with open arms! This year we seized the chance to throw one on Baylee and Nathan that wouldn’t probably work any other year but this. We gave them “chicken pox!” It was perfect timing because a sweet friend that came over for a playdate over Spring Break ended up coming down with them just a few days after our time together. So, the kids were exposed (although I was not concerned about it at all) and were asking questions a lot and pointing out any blemish or mark on their body asking, “Is this one mommy?” After hearing that question many times, it sparked the idea to give Chicken Pox to Baylee and Nathan. Owen was left out on this one because we didn’t think he’d “get it” so instead, I put Jon’s underwear in his drawer. That move actually made me laugh a lot because Owen commented when getting dressed for the day, “Mommy, my underwear grew last night!” as he kept pulling them up, letting go, and watching them fall to his ankles (over and over again).

About midnight, once Jon got home from work, we snuck into their rooms with a washable red marker. Both Baylee and Nathan were on their sides sleeping which at first appeared to be a challenge. Gently, we put the suspicious dots on one side of their tummies, faces, arms, legs, etc. As if we commanded them to move, immediately after we were finished and baffled on how we were going to pox the other side, each rolled, taking that dilemma away! So funny…so easy!

The kids slept in today. It was torture for me. Finally Baylee woke up. As she appeared at the top stair she said, “Very funny mommy, I didn’t fall for it!” And the laughter began from both of us. In fact, she did “fall for it”…but not for long after she did a quick glance over and thought about it. A few had smeared too, leaving a weird trail along her body. Nathan, on the other hand, once he woke, was convinced that he did have them and very upset he was going to have to miss school. Seeing tears of disappointment in his eyes, I relieved him of his worries apap. Tears and April Fool’s Day are not an okay combination!

When it was time for Baylee and Nathan to ‘de-pox’ before going to school they were in store for another trick on them with their sinks. Jon and I unscrewed their faucets after poxing them and placed those bath colored tablets inside then screwed it all together. So when the kids turned on their water, instead of their normal water coming out, bright colored water flowed down. Hot pink and turquoise filled the sinks pretty quickly which shocked them and left them in awe to figure that one out!


They weren’t safe from Mommy’s and Daddy’s antics when at school either. Inside their lunch boxes, I did a swithcheroo. I bought individual bags of crackers and cookies which was a big treat themselves. However, prior to packing them, I slowly opened each variety, emptied out the contents, switched the treat, then resealed the bags with double stick tape. So, their Oreo bag had crackers and their cracker bags had Oreos. Notes saying, “Happy April Fool’s Day” were inside each bag.

Later that night, before bed we did one last thing. On top of their toothbrushes, instead of their toothpaste, we put cake frosting to resemble a toothpaste consistency. It was a shocker to their tastebuds.

Somehow the kids gave in and didn’t do too much on us. We had heard them scamming about it for months but something clicked in them that convinced them not to do it. It was a sweet way to end our day together.