How to really upset your 3-year-old....

First: Decide to be a cool mom and cook a fun April 1st dinner.

Plan the dinner: The April fool part will be that it will appear we are having desert for dinner and dinner for dessert. The dinner will be meat loaf and mash potatoes baked to look like a cake and bagels with strawberry cream cheese to look like donuts. Desert will then be kit-kats melted then rolled in toasted coconut, to represent fish sticks served with ice cream topped with caramel sauce to look like mash potatoes and gravy.

Next: Create Pure Excitement
Your 3-year-old runs into the kitchen and sees the "cake".
"Is that for dessert"
"No it is dinner tonight."
Now let her run around while you finish putting the finishing pouring the milk getting even more excited about the cake and getting to eat dessert for dinner.

LET THE FUN BEGIN: Cut into the cake: She sees the meat loaf; your 6-year-old laughs, your 1-year-old begins eating it like no tomorrow. And then......

Open the flood gates. Your 3-year-old bawls. Her hopes, and dreams dashed in just seconds. How could her mother play such a cruel April Fool joke on her.

Finally, serve dessert and redeem yourself. Thank goodness you planned on serving fish sticks and mash potatoes that were really coconut covered chocolate sticks and ice cream. Peace is return to the home.

And to put icing on the cake (If I can so use the term) in the end, have your 3-year-old asks if you can make the same dinner again next year?!?!?

How was your April Fools Day?