I am the mother of three....active....kids. Okay they drove me nuts! I had a 12 year old and 2 8 year olds. My house was in a state of constant uproar. As any kids would, my adorable offspring would fight. At times it would get ugly. I decided I had to do something. A lightbulb went off- I had the cure. Pranking. Simply put- instead of fighting the children were allowed to prank each other. With no consequence of grounding or punishment. The rules were simple- said prank had to be non-harmful and not permanent. Nothing would be broken or otherwise damaged.

My children leapt to the challenge. I should explain the dynamics of my house. I had an older daughter (12) and twins, a boy and girl (8). Now I was also divorced so as you can see, my poor son was the only testosterone in the house and outnumbered!. He had an older sister and a sister his own age- he didn't stand a chance.

Now I don't know what he did to get his sisters so angry but this is what happened. I was awakened by my sobbing son " Mommmm.......mmyyy.....look what they did to meeee" I opened my eyes and had to bite my lip to not laugh. My son is a deep sleeper, a bomb could go off and he would sleep right through it. Well.... the girls took advantage of that. My son stood before me with curled hair, eyeshadow, blush and lipstick. Nail polish on his fingers and toes! I told him he looked pretty, he said that's not funny. We went to the bathroom and I cleaned him up. I told him okay you were pranked so don't be mad at your sisters. All was well for a few days. Then his twin came to me and said :Mommy I can't find my dolls" I thought for a moment and called my son. I asked if he knew where the dolls were. he answered by saying they were probably out getting their hair done. He didn't give up their location for almost a week. He had buried every one under the pool in the sand! They all survived.

Of course my children are adults now. I look back on these memories and a smile spreads across my face. It might of been unconventional, the pranks, but the fighting did stop and the kids got creative trying to outdo each other. In the end it just made our home life that much more special. Where else would I be able to see my son in full makeup and experience the joys of combing sand out of barbie's hair? Life is wonderful if you take the time to enjoy the little things.