Mom Pulls Scary Prank – Parenting Plights & Delights

I finally received a photo a couple weeks ago of this freaky fake cat. I’d been bugging my sister Cindy for about three years to take a picture of the scary cat her neighbor Shelly uses for a Halloween prop, the creature Shelly had tried to prank Cindy with back then, hoping to scare her good, but being a prankster herself, Cindy didn’t fall for it. 

Cindy borrowed it, though, to pull a few pranks of her own. Here it is, the freaky-looking cat. I have to admit, it IS pretty creepy, especially finding it in a refrigerator. Eek! Lost my appetite! Did you?

Cindy put the cat in her daughter’s room. Ballerina, then age 13, wasn’t startled at all, but it was still daylight at the time. 

So Cindy set the cat on her son Joker’s window sill. By the time the high school jock jetted up the stairs to his room, it was dusk. Next thing, Cindy heard a loud, “Augh!” 

Pause. Next, “Mom, I hate you!” 

Cindy giggled, and after the initial shock, Joker being a joker, he chuckled that Mom got him good. 

That was fun, but Cindy wasn’t through with that spooky cat. This time she put it in the master bedroom on her window sill. With that, she was off to Ballerina’s dance lesson and forgot all about the freaky cat in her window.

Returning home a couple hours later, she found her husband, Jim, in the rocker-recliner in the family room. Clearly, he was upset about something. “What’s wrong?” 

“Cindy, sit down.” He was dead serious. She braced herself for whatever bad news Jim was about to tell her. She noticed a baseball bat in the middle of the room and wondered why it was there. 

“What is it? What happened?” she asked. 

“Don’t ever do that again.” 

“Do what? What did I do?” She didn’t know what he was talking about. She’d forgotten all about the cat.

Jim explained his eventful night after arriving home from a long day at the office. He entered the bedroom to change and noticed something on the window sill that gave him quite a start.

He focused on it and thought it was an owl that somehow got in through the window screen. Its eyes looked eerie and it didn’t move. Jim wanted a closer look, but the light switch was near the creature, so he couldn’t risk turning it on and having the thing fly off throughout the house.  He pondered how to catch it. 

A baseball bat might do the trick. After retrieving one, he got on hands and knees and slowly approached the owl, baseball bat at the ready to nail it. Creeping slowly on all fours, he made a ‘Ch-ch’ sound from the side of his mouth, hoping to frighten it enough so it would escape back out through the screen, but it still didn’t move. 

‘Ch-ch, ch-ch.’ Jim cautiously approached, staying low. ‘Ch-ch.’ Upon closer look, he noticed it wasn’t an owl at all, but a cat. A stiff cat that never moved. Was it dead? 


Puzzled over how a cat got onto the window sill and died in a such a petrified state, Jim finally managed to flick the light on, then realized he’d been pranked. 

Furious, he called Joker and chewed him out. Joker laughed and said, “It wasn’t me, it was Mom.” 

“Your mother wouldn’t do that to me,” Jim said.

Joker laughed harder. “I swear it wasn’t me, it was Mom. She put it in my room first.” 

Jim stewed in the rocker-recliner until Cindy and Ballerina returned home to find him there and the baseball bat on the floor. 

Cindy apologized just for the sake of it but had a good laugh later that her prank was such a huge success! 

Jim never laughed, not once. Not amused in the least.

Two years later, Shelly pranked Cindy again, leaving the cat in Jim and Cindy’s refrigerator while Cindy was gone. She got a big kick out of it, but when Jim saw the cat, he told Cindy to get that thing out of there and wanted nothing to do with it.

Have you ever been the victim of a prank like this? Are you a prankster?  Would you be mad, too, if this happened to you?

Do you have a parenting or grandparenting memory
or another story you’d like to share? 
If you’re not a parent, memories from your own childhood count, too. 

Warning: I might feature your story in a future post. 
(Names can be changed to protect the guilty!)

I’d like to thank all those who have shared their stories. 
These posts wouldn’t be the same without your input.

If you don’t want to leave a comment but would rather contact me by email, 
you can reach me at: lynkelwoohoo at yahoo dot com.

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27 Responses to Mom Pulls Scary Prank – Parenting Plights & Delights

  1. He grabbed a baseball bat – funny!Not sure that really looks like a cat though.

  2. Bish Denham says:

    Too funny! Yes I have definitely pranked people and been pranked. I take it all in stride.

  3. I'm usually the innocent bystander when pranks happen. My husband's gotten our daughter good with fake spiders – one of the few things she's scared of. We don't have anything as creative as this, er… cat.

  4. I love pranks, but am not always fond of being scared out of my wits. So, there you go. 🙂

  5. Old Kitty says:

    Oh it's too creepy – it's horrible!! Put it away!! LOL!!Some clever person left fake bugs all over the women's loos here at work one halloween – and yes, I ran out screaming the first time I saw them! LOL!Take carex

  6. nutschell says:

    funny! Except, I probably would've gotten a baseball too,. :PNutschellwww.thewritingnut.com

  7. D.G. Hudson says:

    Not a very good dead cat. They're usually in worse condition. Zombie cat, maybe.I'm not a prankster, and not fond of pranks, but it does seem some families consider it a rite of passage.

  8. That is one crazy cat! I startle way too easily, so I would've gone nuts. 🙂

  9. Yep, I'm with Coleen – always too jumpy for my own good, so I'm not much of a prankster. Freaky cat is right!

  10. That cat is seriously freaky looking! And yes I've played a couple of pranks on friends, but I do small things like changing the m and n keys on their keyboards, lol.

  11. That is hilarious! I would imagine that even with a great sense of humor someone may not appreciate being the butt of the joke! 🙂

  12. Hey, Lynn, I used to have a cat just like that one. Think it had a twin? LOL! Actually, I remember buying it at Target at Halloweentime. So funny that Cindy's hubby thought it was an owl then a dead cat. Did it get him to fix the screen? Hahaha! And are the kids' names really Joker & Ballerina?As far as being pranked, hm, let me see. Ah, yes… just the other night at the ghost story party. Joanna really had us going with her tale about Disneyland. I was so ready to go and rip those wings off that lady w/the lady bug costume, too! LOL!And come to think of it, I believe I still owe you a pay-back prank. Hm…

  13. dianabeebe says:

    That has to be the creepiest looking creature ever. LOL. Her poor husband sounds scarred for life. I've been pranked before, but not like that. 🙂

  14. I thought I had commented here, but I guess not. Too many irons in the fire, I guess. Alex – A baseball bat can be a good weapon in a pinch!Bish – You're a pretty good prankster, for sure. I've read some of your stories and they're pretty funny!Jennette – Oh, yes, fake spiders are always good for pranks! Ew, they creep me out!Heather – I don't like being scared out of my wits either, but a harmless, little prank is doable for me, even though I startle easily!Old Kitty – Bugs all over the toilet seat! That's a new one that I'll have to remember! Thanks for the tip!

  15. Nutschell – Yep, I would grab a bat, too, or some kind of stick to hit it with.D.G. – It kind of looks more like a dog to me, but a zombie cat works! I come from a family of pranksters. I don't know that we think of it as a right of passage, and some of us are worse than others. Apparently Cindy's husband isn't crazy about pranks either, but he knew she was that way when he married her!Coleen and Alarna – I startle way to easy, but I usually think it's funny when I fall for an innocent prank!Maria – I should have figured you would have had one of those cats, too. I think you've had every Halloween prop that's ever been made! The screen wasn't ripped, but I guess Jim thought it must have been for the 'owl' to get inside the house. It was so dark and the eyes lit up so I guess it looked like an owl at first. You got me back at the graveyard that time I got locked in! Joanna told that joke better than I've ever heard it. Her writer's skills enriched her story perfectly. That was great!Diana – How nice to see you here! Yes, very creepy creature, and I don't think Jim will ever think it was funny, but it makes me laugh every time I think about it. My sister and I think alike, I guess. 🙂

  16. randy says:

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  17. Hey Lynn – I am obviously very late to this post but thought it was hilarious. I popped over from Susie’s party!
    http://patriciasands.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/5-joy/

    • Hello Patricia! Thanks for stopping by. You’re not late. I didn’t even get over to Susie’s blog until 2:00 when I put the baby down for his nap, so I got a very late start on the party. I’m so glad you like this post. Wonderful to see you again!

  18. I live in a prankless world, where my only hope of amusement is in reading about the pranks of others. That being said, Cindy better keep her guard up, Jim could be brewing a doozie.

    • 1pointperspective – What a treat to have you visit my blog. I thought your Easter Bunny post was absolutely hilarious. I forgot to mention that your illustration rocked, too! I’ll give Cindy a heads up, but it would be hard for Jim to fool her. Even if he pulled it off, she’d love it, so that would take all the fun out of it for Jim. Thanks for stopping by!

  19. viveka says:

    Brilliant post … so funny. By the way, Susie sent me. HAPPY EASTER!
    Viveka – http://mygulitypleasures.wordpress.com

  20. Viveka – Thanks so much for stopping by. Susie’s the best, isn’t she? Happy Easter to you, too!

  21. My young daughter-in-law (in her teens) had a sleepover near Halloween and they were watching “Halloween” on the TV. I listened outside the front door until the “knife” scene and threw open the door and yelled. I don’t know how “amused” they were, but I certainly was.
    Stopped over from Susie’s
    Mine: http://kindredspirit23.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/i-am-learning-about-me-and-sometimes-its-sad/
    Scott

  22. Saw your blog posted in Susie’s Blog. Was wondering if we could swap links some time please check my blog out and let me know.

    • Hi Robert. I’m not sure what you mean by swapping links. Do you mean add each other’s links in a blogroll? I haven’t started a blogroll yet and I’m not sure if I will. Right now I’m still trying to get used to WP and get the kinks worked out of my new site. I’ll contact you, though, if I start a blogroll. Thanks so much for stopping by from Susie’s party!

  23. Pingback: What Are Your Fears? - Lynn Kelley, AuthorLynn Kelley, Author

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