I understand now Mom.

As some of you may know I am a Nanny part-time.  This shouldn't come as a surprise to those of you who know me because I have always LOVED children and been a little kid crazy.  I like to blame it on the fact that I'm the youngest and always wanted a little sibling.

Because of my job, some days I feel more like a mom than a college student with my car seats in my car, the crayons and snacks I always carry around in my pursue just incase, and the spare change of clothes I have under the seats of my car for those oh so fun accidents.

There are things that now being a part-time mom I understand about my mom.

1.) It's not that you were ignoring me when I said "Mom, Mom, MOM!" It's honestly was because you were immune to hearing it.

2.) You weren't the first (or second..or tenth) car in the pick up line not because I wasn't important to you, but because you saw how silly it is to idle and wait in a line for 20 minutes before school let out as opposed to just pulling right up to the front of the line. (20 minutes after the bell rang, but hey I forgive you)  Mom, I haven't ever forgotten to pick up my kids though...

3.) You always did know when I was lying.  I have always been struck by how children will just straight up lie.  The best part is that the child normally thinks they pulled a fast one on their naive mom. Now I know the mom is just momentarily tired of fighting their child's moral battle.  Moms like to call this "picking their battles."  This is a normal scenario in my car:
Alice hitting Theo or vise versa
Me: "Alice, don't hit Theo."
Alice: "I didn't!"  I didn't Bekah REALLY!"
Me when I'm tired: "Ok Alice..."
Alice's thoughts: Yes! I got away with it.
My thoughts: She thinks she got away with it...little does she know. I'll fight the next blatant lie.

4.) You were strict on snack time because it really can spoil my dinner...all this time I just thought you a kill joy.

Mom, I am just like you and know I understand the methods to your seeming madness.  

Prank wars...gone wrong.

I know I know people say prank wars never end well. They always end with someone mad, destroyed property, and dismantled friendships.  I, on the other hand, LOVE pranks.  I will say "touche" to a prank done well when it is due.  What constitutes a good prank to me you might ask? (please pay attention Sanders, Daniel, Caleb, & Sam)

1. Well executed- it has to be done sneakily and when least expected.  Doing the prank should be half the fun.  A relationship building experience between the prankers if you will.

2. Well thought out- For example: How could this go wrong and possibly damage my neighbors property? You should also avoid rash and impulsive comebacks because they are just not as fun as a well thought out prank and often end very badly.

3.  It must be annoying to clean up but FUNNY at the same time.  Example: running around in your underwear killing crickets with your high-heeled shoe right after waking up from a nap.  funny. OR turning on your fan only to find flour gently (or not so gently) falling like snow ALL over you.  Also funny because we can all agree it is funny to see a guy covered in flour with a huge grimace on his face.

4. You must respect pranking rules: You are to go back and forth meaning you cannot strike unless you have been struck.  Also when you strike we all know if should be in one move.  An entire day of back-to-back pranks does not constitute one prank and only ends in stomach ulcers do to chronic stress.

5. NEVER and I mean NEVER re-prank the prank that you have been pranked with.  Lame.


So why is this issue so close to my heart you might ask? Well thanks for asking:

Here are the perpetrators minus one  

Prank 1: a harmless, fun prank in our fridge:

What do you do with a fish in your fridge? Well you politely return it to where it came from or close to where it came from like under your neighbors couch where it sits for um...three days.

Prank 2: Retaliation.  We copied their key...snuck into their apartment at 4 AM (please note the careful and sneaky execution, see rule # 1) and tied their doors together and not so politely woke them up with a fog horn.  Please note: we did NOT enter their rooms and to avoid any awkward moments and we even took it a step further and locked them in their rooms.  Oh yeah and I we may have put flour on top of their ceiling fan just for a little Sunday afternoon surprise. (element of surprise see rule number 1)

This is a picture of them cleaning up the flour.  They were a little touchy and not exactly cooperative for a photo shoot.  Right after this picture was snapped I was hit in the face with a towel. 

Pranks 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 consisted of flour on our fan (see rule # 5), syrup in our showers and toilets (see picture below), 40 grasshoppers running a muck in our apartment, the classic bucket of water over the door, and I woke up to flour covering me at 2:30 A.M.  Firstly, all these pranks were done on the same day but all at different times (please see rule # 4).  Is this pranking or is this just being obnoxious?  I would start naming all the classic prank rules they broke, like invasion of privacy, but honestly I don't have the time because I have to go change my sheets, my duvet cover, and clean off all my books.  

Here's to you Apartment 50 for ruining a perfectly fun prank war.


Mom, Dad, family, you wanted to know what goes on in my "busy" college life...well here you go. Thanks for paying for my tuition!