Tuesday 1 April 2014

Karma Police

The other night I was trolling social media when I came across this post about how pretend pregnancy announcements can be hurtful as April Fools pranks, especially for those who have struggled with loss and infertility, I was intrigued.  The timing of these practical jokes falls three weeks before National Infertility Awareness Week.

As a parent of multiples I encounter a lot of questions based on the assumption that Molly and Jack are a result of fertility treatments rather than an impetuous romp after dining at Red Lobster - we were extremely lucky.  I know and love so many people who have experienced loss and endured exhaustive fertility treatments in the hope of becoming a family and I can only imagine the feeling of heaviness in their hearts whenever they see the flurry of REAL pregnancy announcements and bathroom mirror photos of growing bellies without adding phonies into the mix.

The April Fools pregnancy "jokes" always bothered me but I could never put my finger on why they annoyed me: why should I stop you from playing a joke?  From my perspective what it comes down to is that there are very few life events that we give ourselves permission to celebrate publicly, to scream down from the mountain tops for all to see and that's part of what makes them special: It's not every day you get engaged, buy a house, run that marathon or finish your master's thesis.  It's the social equivalent to posting about that exciting new promotion you got on LinkedIn to CEO of your company and then receding that you were just kidding, APRIL FOOLS'.  I am not usually superstitious but there are certain milestones that I would never fake because I wouldn't want to jinx anything that was so exciting or precious.  I was also taught to never cry wolf and I'm pretty sure that my mom would kill me if I did, especially about imaginary grandchildren.

New years Eve PJ party
Chris and I New Year's Eve 2011 - we'd just discovered I was pregnant.

Remember when an April Fools joke was those decal stickers to make your dad think you put a baseball through his car windshield or hiding behind a corner with a wagon full of water balloons to "get" your siblings?  I miss those classics.  One of the math teachers at my high school pranked all of his students one spring by shaving his beard and pretending he was his twin brother filling in as a substitute teacher for weeks before he "returned" from sabbatical, now that took commitment!

Aside from the possibility of unintentionally hurting someone you care about in the spirit of a joke, you may want to consider this fact before you post a false positive online: People are inundated with information via social media every day and usually are only skimming these news feeds. This means that they may not be privy to your grande hoax reveal...So when you post that selfie in a few months and someone compliments you on your baby bump (beer baby), know that you kind of deserve it.

What do you think about the fake pregnancy (or major milestone) April Fools' joke, fun or foul?

For some fun April Fools' jokes to play on your kids click here

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