April Fools…. Ugh! I have never even remotely enjoyed this holiday known as April Fools Day, and over the years I find that my distaste for it has only grown…

I guess the reason I don’t like April Fools Day is because I’m not a fan of pranks. In general I find that pranks are often mean, hurtful, or embarrassing to the person being pranked… and I don’t understand why you would want to do that to someone, especially someone you love. It seems to me that April Fools Day is an excuse to treat people badly for the sake of giving yourself a good laugh… because let’s be honest – most of the time no one is laughing but the person who pulled the prank.

In addition to not really understanding the point of it, I also am someone who struggles with anxiety. And it’s not a simple “I get nervous” kind of anxiety – it’s a chemical overload in my brain kind of anxiety that effects my ability to think, move and sometimes breathe. Many pranks that have been played on me on this horrible day – have sent me into anxiety attacks of varying degrees. For example, one year when I was in high school, someone in my family thought it would be funny to prank me by telling me that my car tires were flat and no one could take me to school. I truly believed them and ended up having a mild panic attack. So what to them was a funny April Fools joke was a horrible, anxiety riddled start to my day. Likewise, telling someone their pet has died or runaway or that a family member is hurt – these are not funny things and for someone like me can definitely cause an anxiety attack to occur.

Now let’s talk about those false stories that get posted on social media… you know, the ones. Where someone says “Ricky and I got engaged!” Or “We’re so excited! We’re pregnant!” I’m not sure when lies became jokes, and this is yet another situation where I just don’t see the humor in it. And let’s be honest – there will be a slew of people after you post these statements who will actually believe that you’re engaged or pregnant and you’ll end up spending hours trying to explain that it was a “joke.” I feel like the only intent for these is to make other people feel embarrassed for believing you… So is the joke that your friends and family trust you? I don’t get it. And I feel like only bad things come from these… like your Aunt Ida might post on your fake engagement. “Oh! I’m so happy to hear this Susie! We were worried you might never get married.” So much for that fun joke.

Ultimately – I feel like April Fools is a holiday that only creates hurt, frustration, and mistrust. There is already so much of that in the world – I don’t think we need any more excuses to bring negativity into our lives. So today I hope you’ll join me in bringing more love and kindness to others instead of playing pranks or telling false stories. Let’s change what April Fools Day is about!