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Whoopie cushions, flipping computer screens and fake teeth.
All are acceptable pranks to play today for April Fools’ Day.
For NYC Smile 4 Me creator Chris Bohinski, the day is for gotchas, but also for smiles and laughs. NYC Smile 4 Me is a mission that spreads happiness and joy by asking the question ”what makes you smile?’
Bohinski, 26, of Wilkes-Barre Township, said when he was younger, his mother used to prank him about it being a snow day, revealing a little later that school was not actually canceled. But as he’s gotten older, his mother has become “the queen” of subtle pranks throughout the day — and she has a winning technique.
“(She) mixes in untruths so perfectly with her everyday conversation,” Bohinski said.
His mother, Barbara, defended her position, which she said works every time.
“The best way for a mom like me to prank my now-adult children is to have a normal conversation with them and throw something in there that isn’t too out of the ordinary,” she said. “Then after we chatted for a bit I say April Fools’!”
Heather Tawney said she used to break out fake ice cream, or sandwiches, when she was in grade school during past April Fools’ Days.
“I used to get in super early and put them on the teacher’s desk,” recalled Tawney, of Nanticoke.
But with childhood in the rear-view mirror, the novelty has worn off for the 26-year-old.
“There’s nothing really to do now,” she said.
More recently, Tawney’s sister, Lisa, told her family she really was pregnant two years ago on April Fools’ Day.
“That was bad, in a good way,” Tawney laughed, noting her family didn’t believe her sister. It wasn’t until Lisa’s husband came in that they finally believed the couple. “So hilarious, not.”
And while the humor of some pranks might be debatable, the origin of April Fools’ Day, according to Yahoo News, also is a point of contention — no kidding here.
Some historians trace it to the 16th century when Pope Gregory XIII switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. That moved the first day of the year to January, so those who didn’t get the memo looked foolish for celebrating the New Year on April 1, the report states.
Others believe April Fools’ Day is rooted in renewal festivals, marking the end of winter and the start of spring. Those celebrations involved dressing in disguises and playing tricks on people.