I decided to get a little April Foolish this past April 1st. I normally wake the kids up at 7. Instead, I ran into my youngest son’s room at 6:45.

“Hurry!” I shouted. “It’s 7:45! We overslept. You have 5 minutes to get to the bus!”

He jumped out of bed, looked at the clock, then looked at me.

“It’s 7:45!” I said.

“It’s 6:45” he growled.

“April Fools!” I said.

“Not funny.”

“Well, since you’re up,” I said. “How about you make your bed?”

The fight to have them make their beds in the mornings was lost long ago, but I haven’t given up entirely.

“Really, Dad?” he said.

“Really. Make your bed.”

He did.

That night, as he was going to bed, he asked if I could go back to waking him up at seven am.

“Let’s make a deal,” I said. “As long as you make your bed each morning, I’ll wake you up at 7 the next morning. If you miss it, though, I’m going to wake you up at 6:45, just to give you enough time.”

He thought about that. “Okay,” he said, finally, “but you have to remind me to make my bed.”

I grinned. “I can do that.”

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