Scrolling through Facebook, I noticed that seven years ago today I was able to pet a kangaroo at a Sharks’ game. Eight years ago I had a snow day. Two years ago today I posted a picture of a white wonderland outside on April 1. Today seemed simple and quiet compared to each of those. There was a little ice on the wetland this morning, but none on the windshield and no snow on the ground…

This year’s crew of second graders seemed mostly unfamiliar with the concept of April Fool’s Day. A couple of them told jokes but there were no pranks like I’ve had in the past. Maybe it’s going out of style. One year I had a student come in to school with a leg brace on saying that he’d broken his leg. Other years there were simple pranks and lots of jokes, but not this year. Well, other than my brownies...

I made ‘brownies’ again this year, carefully cutting brown construction paper into capital E’s and tucking them into an aluminum pan covered with foil. Just before the phonics lesson, I told my students that I’d made them ‘brownies’ and for some reason, they immediately suspected a trick. One even looked right at me and said, “No sir!” So I went to my desk and lifted up the pan. Their eyes grew wide and their jaws dropped. I carried the pan over to them, carefully peeled back the covering, reached in, and pulled out a brown e. Then I began passing them out.

They were not happy with me.

It's tough when reality doesn't meet our expectations. When someone we trust lets us down. When we set our hopes on one thing and end up with something quite different.

One little one put her hands on her hips and said that she was very mad at me (but she was smiling as she said it). Another refused to even accept a brown e. However, when I pointed out that they could use their ‘brownie’ on someone else, they perked up a little bit. Apparently they agree that it’s much more fun to be the perpetrator than the recipient. Everyone who entered my classroom for the rest of the day was offered a ‘brownie’. I have the feeling that several parents and siblings were also offered a handmade treat.

 

I do want to point out that all of the students did fully forgive me when I pulled out a bag of Keebler double stuffed fudge cookies, though they made me open it and show them the cookies inside before they got too excited again.

But I think the best part of the day was about a half hour later when one of my little ones suddenly shouted out in the middle of a phonics lesson, “I get it! It’s a brown E!”