Another year we woke up to Easter baskets and being hurried into our dressy clothes, even getting as far as the church parking lot - only it was a Saturday, not a Sunday. Even my dad got taken in by that one.
The one I remember most vividly is the year when she was shaking some dry cat food into the cat's bowls. "This looks pretty good!" she declared, poured a bunch into her hand, and began to chew away, making happy sounds. That was almost too much for me. It was Cracklin' Oat Bran, if I remember correctly, a brand new cereal that year, and it did look kind of like our cats' food.
And this isn't an April Fool's day one, but years and years ago, they used to have a commercial for Shredded Wheat, warning that if you ate more than 17 Spoon Size Shredded Wheat, you would have uncontrollable energy. It showed people speeded up, doing all kinds of things double-time. My mom had it all planned. She and my dad were eating breakfast, when she cried, "Oh no! I must have eaten 18 Spoon Size Shredded Wheat!" She leapt up, began dusting with a cloth she had stashed earlier, ran out the back door, ran in the front door, swept the kitchen floor, touched her toes, etc.
And, in a perfect bit of comic timing, my unexcitable father looked at her over the top of his paper and said, "I don't think I've seen that commerical, Nora."
Writing this, I feel bad that I haven't given my kid one memorable April Fools Day.
