Dear Supporter,

Right around this time of year, the fun begins for a colleague of mine. It started about six years ago when his two young boys had just started school. That’s when they opened their lunch boxes in the cafeteria one day and found them filled to the rim with baby spinach and a note that read: April Fools.

The next year, my colleague tasted something strange in his smoothie. His kids had mixed dog food in with the frozen berries. April Fools.

Now it was on. The next year, after his kids went to sleep, my friend moved all the clocks ahead five hours. His kids thought they were waking up at 8 a.m. but it was really 3 a.m. They got up, ate breakfast, and were about to head out the door, when his older son said, “Hey, why is it dark out?” April Fools.

But there’s more. Last year, my friend got home from work to find a pretty official-looking letter from the District of Columbia. Sadly, he’d seen these letters before. They meant he had been caught speeding by a traffic camera. “This can’t be right,” he protested. “I’m fighting this.” He got up early, had his smoothie (he checked it for dog food), and just before he left the house, his kids were there to yell: April Fools.

I can’t wait to hear what happens this year.

Now it’s your turn. Send me a funny April Fool’s Day prank that you played on a friend or family member or one that someone played on you. We’ll include the best story in next month’s An Ounce of Prevention.

Kate Carr
President, CEO, Mom
Safe Kids Worldwide

Purple Bunny the Candy Striper

Last month, we asked for a story about a favorite thing. This one from Nancy N. made us all feel good.

When my daughter, Colleen, was about 15 months old, she was able to determine favorites…and decided purple was her favorite color. So, in her first Easter basket was a small stuffed purple bunny. It was her favorite toy for many years and she carried it with her at all times.

When Colleen was 4 years old, she was taken to the emergency room after hemorrhaging due to a tonsillectomy. Colleen went into shock, needed a blood transfusion and we almost lost her. We were so happy that she made it through…Purple Bunny always by her side.

Somehow, upon discharge, Purple Bunny was left at the hospital. Colleen was very distressed and had a hard time sleeping without Purple Bunny. When we finally decided she might have been left at the hospital, the nurse explained that Purple Bunny had been staying with the other children to cheer them up during their stay at the ICU. But that Purple Bunny was happy to go home with her rightful owner now.

Colleen, now 40, still has Purple Bunny. Purple Bunny has been through a lot, but, she is still as special as the day she became part of our family.

Where Superman Stores Medicine: Up, Up and Away

While it’s important to encourage our kids to explore and discover new things, when it comes to medication, accidents can happen faster than you think. So even if you are tempted to keep medications handy, put them out of reach after every use. Here are more tips.

Let's Ex Those Texts

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. So let’s all make an agreement to keep our cell phones and tablets in the back seat to avoid distraction when driving. Here are some more ideas from one mom who’s trying to be less distracted while driving.

Mark Your Calendars: Safe Kids Day is Coming May 18

Kids will be kids, and we love to see them discover, explore, grow and thrive. But 9,000 families lose a child every year to a preventable injury. That’s one family every hour. The statistics are hard, but the solutions are easy. Learn the little things we can do so kids can grow up to do big things. Learn more about Safe Kids Day

Taking Action to Protect Florida’s Most Precious Cargo

Did you know that children in Florida are not required to sit in a car seat after age 4? We know that this is extremely dangerous for kids who are too small for an adult safety belt to fit them properly. Help keep kids safe by supporting House Bill 3 and Senate Bill 66, which require the use of booster seats for children under age 8 or less than 4 foot 9 inches tall. Learn more and if you’re from Florida, please help.

North Carolina’s Answer for Unwanted Meds

A few years ago, Kelly Ransdell, the Safe Kids state coordinator in North Carolina, was trying to find a way to safely dispose of prescription medication that was left over from her husband’s shoulder surgery. She discovered that there were no statewide events or campaigns to encourage the public to safely dispose of unused and unwanted medication. So she created one.

Since 2010, Operation Medicine Drop has collected more than 30 million doses of medicine at almost 1,000 events. They recently completed their 2012 take-back campaign, which included more than 250 events across the state. Learn more about this innovative program.

A New World of Child Passenger Safety

Sometimes it takes traveling more than 7,000 miles to get a fresh perspective on something you’ve been doing for more than 25 years. That’s what happened to Lorrie Walker, one of the most respected experts in child passenger safety, when she traveled to Doha, Qatar to help keep kids safe in the Middle East. Read more about Lorrie’s experience.