The Ol' Switcheroo

Every now and the chance for a good practical joke presents itself, and it is just too much for me to resist. Last night before church, I was visiting with Janice, Lindsay’s mother, my partner in crime. Looking down the row of seats, I noticed that my sweater (hanging on the back of my chair) was just like another sweater (in the floor) belonging to a little girl, Alayna (Janice’s niece). I remarked to Janice that it would be funny to switch them so that when Alayna put her sweater on after church, it would be way to big. Janice said, "Let’s do it!" And I switched the sweaters – one being a 1X and the other being about a little girl’s size 10. Alayna’s big sister saw the switch and told her grandmother, Beverly (the infamous tea maker of Tuesday’s post). The stage was set, but as usual my joke backfired on me somewhat. Rather than wait until after church to put on her sweater, Alayna picked up her sweater during the lesson. She started putting it on and realized it was too big. Turning to her grandmother with a look of dismay she said, "Nana, why is my sweater so big?" Then she handed the sweater to her mother, who was not in on the joke, and said, "This must be your sweater!" Her mother shook her head saying it was not her sweater, but Alayna was insistent, and her mother did not have a clue what was going on. Beverly, who was caught in the middle, was worried that the incident would get out of hand (cause a stir in church with everyone looking on) but was having a hard time not laughing. Alayna’s sister was also trying not to laugh. Beverly quickly wrote a note to Alayna’s mom saying "Janice and Lou played a trick on Alayna with the sweaters." Then she whispered to Alayna, who turned and looked at me with her big brown eyes. When I showed her that I had her small sweater, a big grin spread across her face. I think she liked the joke. Although it was fun to tease Alayna, the best part of the joke was on Beverly who had to deal with everyone during church. Of course I was in a bit of trouble since the joke came off during church and not after, but it was still funny.