🌟 April Fool’s Day: A Little History… and a Lot of Shenanigans

 

April Fool’s Day has been around for centuries, though no one can quite agree on where it began. Some trace it to the 16th‑century switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, when people who still celebrated New Year’s in late March were teased as “April fools.” Others point to spring festivals across cultures—times of playful chaos, role‑reversal, and harmless trickery. However it started, the spirit has stayed the same: one day each year when the world gives you permission to be delightfully ridiculous.

In our house, though, April Fool’s Day doesn’t just happen. It is anticipated. It is engineered. It is practically a season.

And the reason is simple: my son Shenan.

Shenan is a prankster by nature and by name. He even owns a shirt that reads, “If I Shenan once, I’ll shenanigan.” This is not an idle threat. This is a personal mission statement.

So it’s no surprise that April Fool’s Day is his favorite holiday. While most people start thinking about jokes on March 31, Shenan begins in February. He plans. He plots. He calibrates. He tests prototypes. He refines his craft like a dedicated artisan of mischief.

By the time April 1 arrives, the rest of us are simply living in his world—alert, amused, and occasionally startled. And honestly, it’s hard not to admire the commitment. Some families prepare for Easter. Some prepare for spring cleaning. We prepare for Shenan.

And every year, without fail, he delivers.

Post inspired by Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest by Shenan (CB) Leaver.

About the book:

Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest is a collection of anecdotes about a "detail-oblivious" homemaker and traveler, told from the point of view of her mentally challenged son. The simplicity of language has made this book a favorite with ESL students, and the humorous "conclusions" about life from a developmentally disabled child's point of view endears it to anyone with a sense of humor. Written in collaboration to demonstrate the purpose and power of the written word as a way of connecting with other people and bringing them some mirth.

CB Leaver, the author, is a mentally challenged CHARGE Syndrome adult who never learned to read or write. His mother, Betty Lou Leaver, a highly published author, who wanted her son to understand the purpose of the written word: sharing thoughts and/or information with others. It took a full year of working together to put CB's remembered stories on paper, to check that they had been accurately transcribed. CB learned a lot about the written word both in the process of writing and in getting feedback from pre-publication readers of the manuscript.

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