DISQUS

Brandie · 1 year ago

What a great post, thanks, Ann! Nothing says "I love you" like a little Punking ...

Steve Woodruff · 1 year ago

People that spend any time with my family (I was one of 4 boys, and now have 5 of my own) know that the surest sign of affection is getting busted on. If you're NOT being teased, it's time to worry...

Michele Miller · 1 year ago

So I see it's in the genes, Ann. :-)

Great story... and great to know that the family tradition continues. Love your stories!

Chris Brogan... · 1 year ago

We had a lot of laughter in our household, too. I'm grateful for it, and try to recreate the craziness at my house. My daughter is already fitfully aware of sarcasm and also the fact that more than half of what I tell her isn't exactly true. My son? He's more up for the physical humor.

Thrilled to see blue milk pranks are alive and well.

Stacie Haight Connerty · 1 year ago

What a fabulous article! My husband is the prankster in our house and the kids love trying to figure out what he will do next. It took me a little while to get used to a man who hides under the dining room table with a Super Soaker full of water anticipating his next victim (sometimes me).

I love the blue milk!

LisaW · 1 year ago

Great post, Ann! You know, it's the love and laughter remain long after the arguments you’ve had, the anger at the acting out, the endless, epic parent-child battles of who is right and who is a nincompoop are long forgotten.

As parents, our sources of pride come from being witness to our children's successes whether it's sports, academics, or delivery of a good joke - we are seeing evidence of skill and characteristics that will serve them well.

Good for you for seeing that in blue tinted coffee!

Corey Freeman · 1 year ago

I have to say it: Blue milk! Like starwars! We play pranks on each other during Christmas and on other such special occasions all the time. It adds more fun to the holidays. Pranks aren't necessarily mean, just showing someone you care by going that extra mile to surprise them, and get a laugh out of it.

Sarah · 1 year ago

How did it taste?

Ann Handley · 1 year ago

@sarah I could handle the blue-ish coffee but, later, couldn't tolerate the Frosted Mini Wheats swimming in blue.. it was just *wrong*.

I also love @stacie idea to take cover under the dining room table.. I might just try that!!

I'm glad you all agree with @brandie's sentiment... "nothing says I love you like a little punking!"

Finally, shout to my brother for his help jogging my memory here! Thanks, Bill!

Jeff Sass · 1 year ago

Ann, even those who are lactose intolerant should be tolerant of your blue milk story!

I too grew up realizing I come from a long line of pranksters. My grandfather, who was in poor health and hard of hearing the entire time I knew him, was legendary for once placing a rubber rat on top of one of my grandmother's signature fresh baked pies (then hiding in the bathroom until he heard her scream as she removed it from the oven). To this day, nobody in my family speaks to each other on April Fool's Day because we have so "out pranked" each other over the years that no one will believe anything anyone says on that day.

Thanks for making me smile (and appreciate my distaste for milk!)

- Jeff

Hieronymus Murphy · 1 year ago

Both of my parents had keen senses of humor, so this story resonated with me quite strongly.

But it's the opening that hooked me, because I was reminded of the first few minutes of the play " The Complete Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)," during which the audience is given the standard "if the cabin should lose pressure" speech.

But in the play, the line about oxygen masks concludes with "... and if you are traveling with small children, be sure to put on your own mask first, and let the little buggers fend for themselves," a line my wife and I always whisper to each other at the appropriate moment whenever we're traveling, and then laugh.

Jen DelMonaco · 1 year ago

Rock on, Evan!! Ann, your legacy isn't the trophies won or accolades bestowed upon your kids-- anyone who follows directions can achieve-- it's knowing you've raised kids that can live in the real world with humor and wit, both of which require true intelligence! You're a kick-ass mom.

Daria Steigman · 1 year ago

Hi Ann,

Wonderful post. It reminds me of the time my brother replaced a box of tissues with old newspapers. We had a house guest at the time who went searching for a fresh box -- and got quite the surprise! We laughed for a long time over that one.

Best,
Daria

Mike Volpe · 1 year ago

I think this extends to company/work environments too. Some of the funnest memories of my work segment of life are related to jokes/pranks at work, rather than business accomplishments.

At HubSpot, one of the characteristics we look for in potential employees is the ability to laugh. We work too hard not to have fun. As part of this, we play jokes (admittedly geeky) a lot. One example is the website www.JonahsGerms.com that we set up to mock an employee that is a bit of a germophobe.

And we also keep an internal wiki called "HubSpot Lore & Mythology" where we keep track of funny quotes and happeninges in the company. It is a great way to keep all 60 (and growing) of us up to date on the company jokes, a good way for new employees to hear about the past jokes. Even though 18 months ago we were just 5 people, employee #60 can feel better connected to the lore of HubSpot by reading the jokes and quotes from early 2007, so it actually serves as a tool to maintain this as part of our culture.

Thanks for making me smile and brightening up my Sunday.

Mukund Mohan · 1 year ago

My kids usually do the one after you least expected followed up by another one. Its their way of asserting who are the real ones around who the world revolves. :)

Zil · 1 year ago

My iced coffee almost went sputtering out of my nose as I pictured you saying what the... when seeing this. Humor is what saves us all - nice job making sure it stays alive in your house and beyond!

Lisa Hoffmann · 1 year ago

Thank you for this, Ann. I come from a family where no one ever replaced the sugar with salt or put a rubber snake in my bed and it saddens me to think of what my brothers and I missed out on. Although I started out as a "too serious" parent, I was fortuante enough to find a friend who has shown me how important it is to dye the milk blue once in a while.

Rushing to get ready for work the other day I discovered furry yellow Spongebob slippers where my carefully chosen brown heels had been. Faint snickering drifted through the hall and down the stairs. That was a good day.

Roshan · 1 year ago

Lol, he is a brat that child of yours. I love a good prank and have pulled a few on my cousins & sister.

bdot · 1 year ago

Ann,

As they say... "your mother and my mother were both mothers". In this case our father was... well, funny WAY before baloney in your shoes made you feel funny.
You made me feel like I was 12 all over again. "Hello Genie" wasn't a spinoff of a t.v. sitcom in our house.

BLUE! perfect! Can't wait to hear about retaliation...replace all of his itune content with those show tunes, or Irish ballards?

Jess Sanders · 1 year ago

Fantastic! Nothing better than a child following in his parents' mischievious footsteps :)

Jasmin Tragas · 1 year ago

What a great homage to the goodness of finding laughter in our everyday lives. It also tells me about a boy, who feels comfortable enough, loved enough and confident enough to know he can cause chaos without risk of reprimand.

It's a precious thing. The ability to laugh together - or openly, harmlessly, at each other's expense - is such a wonderful bonding experience.

Cheryl Smith · 1 year ago

This post took me back to the day when I emptied the sugar dish and filled it with salt, in anticipation of my mom's morning coffee. We were always playing pranks on one another.

Today, we do similar things with our own children. My husband is the best prankster of all, recently painted the fingernails on his left hand bright pink just to see if the 8 year old daughter would notice. She and her 7 year old friend had the most infectious, contagious laugh imaginable upon their discovery at the dinner table.

Those are the things fun, and memories are made of!

Scott Monty · 1 year ago

I am that father. And I'm proud to say that my 5 year-old and 2 year-old boys are already well on the road to following in the old man's footsteps. :)

Thanks for sharing, Ann.

Joel Libava · 1 year ago

Ann,
Cool and loving story. Sometimes, we take ourselves way too seriously. We all need these humility moments.

I recently made the decision to laugh some more. Maybe PUNK some folks once in awhile, now too.
{Thanx to your son}

Joel Libava

Ann Handley · 1 year ago

Thanks, all... I am heartened to know there's so many crazy families out there (and in the case of Hubspot, COMPANIES!)

@joel - I can give you his email address if you need some ideas. ; )

(Plotting my revenge: watch this space....) lol.

Joel Libava · 1 year ago

Ann,
Thanx for the offer. {ROFL}

Fortunately, I am devious enough on my own. I just have not exercised THAT part of ma brain yet, ma!
Joel

Katybeth · 1 year ago

Recently, I just add a Starbucks bottled coffee to my 12 year's old son's lunch--it was filled with chocolate milk. . .I spent forever recreating the label. Then it got better "one of those mom's....called me with one of "those phone calls" seems my son carried the joke along with his classmates. Tell your son, he has inspired me...one day this week...the milk changes color. Thanks for lightening things up.

Claudia · 1 year ago

Ann,

Once again, reading your story brings up laughter and emotion altogether.

And it makes me wonder: am I not forgetting to leave place free for those "pranky" moments? They are so delighful, a disruption in our all-day lives, that make us stop all of a sudden and have a different look at that person. Especially when it is your child.
And it reminds me when my second daughter was about 3, my wallet had disappeared. After having looked for it in -almost- any impossible place without success, having asked her by all means in my possession if she had an idea (!), I gave up and life went on... After 2 weeks, she came to me and told me that she suddenly remembered that it could be in her cuddy toys basket! It was. Her explanation was that she thought that if I would have no money anymore, I couldn't buy anything to eat anymore and so she would'nt be forced, everyday, to spend "hours" (in her mind) in front of her dish!!!

She still has this tricky, humourous mind that helps me think ouf-of-the-box.
I am thankful to her for this and to you for sharing your special look.

Robert Hruzek · 1 year ago

Hmmm... blue milk, eh? Now that sounds like a fun household! Cherish as you do, Ann; cherish it forever! (But watch yer back...)

Leigh Durst · 1 year ago

Classic. I love it.

The problem in my house is that my husband, Brent, is a master prankster. If I do anything, he will retaliate with the most beautiful, ironic, cruel and humiliating prank he can. This is the kid that used to break into his high school to rearrange classrooms....who rigged an old fire alarm bell under his sister's bed and set it off during the slumber party.... etc. Brent is the prank master... and he is COMPELLED to win, so I don't mess with him much.

We do, however, pull stunts on Michelle, our 17 year old from time to time. Recently, we both got ready for her first parent teacher conference at school by donning some "special" outfits.

Brent put on a wife beater and this horrid, hot rod "flame" shirt with shorts and long socks with high tops sneakers. I put on something equally ridiculous and trailor trashy.... and we headed for the door. We pretended nothing was up as we yelled that it was time to go.

Michelle entered -- and after an initial recoil, surveyed us with suspicion. After an initial knowing smirk, she said without cracking .... "Beautiful! Let's go!" and headed out the door. Brent and I were left staring at each other, knowing we would NOT be seen dead in the outfits...sheepishly went downstairs to change while Michelle waited for us, smugly.

That's our girl!

Karen Swim · 1 year ago

Ann, this story wrapped itself around my heart and made me smile. I grew up an only child and often imagined the playful teasing of brothers and sisters. What a great family and what a joy that the tradition live on! Big props to your son for giving you a blue Monday. :-)

Karen Swim · 1 year ago

Oops, I guess that was blue Friday. :-)

Annie Too · 1 year ago

Fish head in the shoe is always fun retaliation... a bit smelly, but works none the less!

Don't let BDot fool you... he's a jumpy critter!

LOL!

Christian Gulliksen · 1 year ago

Having grown up in a prank-free zone, I'm not sure whether to be jealous or relieved...

Larissa Gaston · 1 year ago

I mostly lived in a prank-free zone too, but I do remember one time at Christmas, the year after I'd gotten my drivers license, my family was laying the foundation for buying me a car. Christmas morning I get a box with a picture of a BMW in it and everyone telling me to go see what’s in the garage. There I found a Matchbox car, with a spotlight on it. Nice touch. Everyone was cracking up, except me of course - but at least I got to say I got a BMW for Christmas.:)

Connie · 1 year ago

Christmas 1970, my mom gave my sister a faux pearl tie. They were all the rage, but sis hated it & never wore it. Mom wrapped it up again the following Christmas ... and every Christmas since then. Every year we eagerly anticipate the unwrapping of the pearl tie. I even have a You Tube video. Great memories.

Charlotte Phillips · 1 year ago

Every now and then, as we were leaving my grandparents home, my grandfather would say, if you're going tomorrow, be on the porch at 5. I'm not waiting. He wouldn't say another word. We never knew if he was joking and would be home, sound asleep at 5 or pulling to our curb. If we were going somewhere - for how long? A day? A week? Camping? Fishing? We never knew in advance, but were on that porch by 5 everytime - usually with a suitcase full of clothes that weren't needed for one-day fishing trip. We learn to be prepared.

GirlPie · 1 year ago

A great story, well told. Pranks are big in a certain echelon of my industry, and get get costly and out of hand. But the little ones my wrong-side-of-the-tracks dad played on his three little roughnecks and his uptown bride make great memories. Thanks for the reminder to keep play alive in a home... we're all kids inside.

PS: glad I saw this your tweet, didn't know you had this blog, cool!

picsbro · 1 year ago

Does this mean Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel (aka Nicolas Sarkozy) were trying to tell Sarah Palin they love her?

Great story!

Scott Schablow · 1 year ago

Great story. My own memories come flooding back. I grew up with 3 older sisters and a younger brother so it was usually boys vs. girls for pranks. They were more clever and always thought of something that left us running through the house screaming in fear. That is, until we heard their devilish laughter. My own children are definitely keeping the tradition alive. You wouldn't believe the things that have made their way into my shoes, briefcase or suit pockets on days when I have an important meeting. I'll be smiling the rest of the day. Thanks.

Julie Roads · 1 year ago

Too bad no one hear enjoys your writing and bothers to leave you comments!!!
So, my first question is: did you drink it anyway.
I come from a family that doesn't prank much...but I married into one that does so mercilessly...not to mention the teasing. I'm more like you somewhere between childhood and adolescence - scared shitless and quite irritated. But this post was so commanding of the heart part of the punk - I might just change my 'tude.

http://pettyvices.typepad.com · 1 year ago

So, I wonder, has your boy learned about your family history of pranksterhood, or is it just in the genes? Does he just maybe have a does of his grandpa in there? I bet that's part of what made it touch your heart in the wee hours...lovely story. Thanks for sharing.

Lisa Mac · 1 year ago

<3 and :)

Kristal · 1 year ago

What a great story. That just made my day.

Patrick Moran, Mzinga · 1 year ago

Fun post, Handley.

I have an almost 5 year old set of twins and they have learned that sarcasm is a part of life. I have convinced myself this will make them better adults, but alas -- perhaps I am damaging for life. Sorry kids.

Ann Handley · 1 year ago

@Julie: Yes, drank it anyway. Was a little weird in cereal, but not if I closed my eyes.

@pettyvices: I suspect it's in the genes. He & I have the exact same sense of humor, which is sometimes irritating to others, even occasionally to me. ; )

Judy · 1 year ago

Loved it. A nice escape from work. Thanks. Ps did you check your stash of booze? Mess with my milk, sure, I'm humbled, but mess with my vodka...actually, yeah, I would drink it anyway.

Julia · 1 year ago

This made me chuckle. I hope some day my youngsters will play these types of tricks on me. Perhaps you can give us prank ideas for the near future :)

Natanya Anderson · 1 year ago

I hadn't had a chance to read this until today and now I think I know why -- fate was preventing me from reading it until I needed the message. Thanks again Ann for a good laugh and a healthy dose of perspective.

Janet Petrine · 1 year ago

Ann,
Excellent post from an excellent writer. What else do you write? Hopefully something, fiction, journalism, screenwriter. If you don't--you must.
J

Jen DelMonaco · 11 months ago

Oh my gosh-- it is all so true about the Wii-- please check out with www.wiihaveaproblem.com for the latest Wii damage inflicted on bodies and properties alike-- a cautionary tale site Ev must see!!