April Fools!

My annoying husband, Lumpy, said I couldn’t do the post I wanted today.  Something about the fact it isn’t very nice to play with people’s emotions.  But, it’s April Fools’ Day!  I guess I’ll just wish everyone a Happy New Year’s!

For those going “Huh?  Happy New Year’s?  Amanda Nicole, did you check the calendar?” the history of April Fools’ Day is actually interesting.  It all started when…  Well, no one really knows.  The best explanation is due to New Year’s Day.  I’m not joking.  New Year’s Day used to be celebrated on March 25, and lasted a week.  The final day of the celebration was April 1.

Then in 1564, The Edict of Roussillon changed the date to January 1.  The reason why Charles IX of France did this?  Well, it turns out March 25 wasn’t the only date for celebrating the New Year.  There was December 25 (also referred to as Christmas in some circles), to March 1, to Easter, to March 25, or even April 1.

Now, that’s no way to run a kingdom, so Charles IX decided to rewrite the law stating January 1 was New Year’s Day.  And the rest of Europe soon followed suit.  The myth is that since some people continued to celebrate on the old dates, these people were fools.  (Fools, no.  Highly uneducated in a time when even kings might not be able to write their name; probably.)  Hence the beginning of April Fools’ Day.  It was considered fine if one played practical jokes on such fools.  Then it became a day when all jokes must be completed before noon.  Anyone pulling a prank after noon was an “April Fool.”  Now it has become all about practical jokes all day long.

Like the one I wanted to do that I finally had an agent and the agent sold my novel in an auction ‘cause my novel is so cool, so watch for the novel to hit the shelves soon.  Except, Lumpy said that went too far!  And was mean!  I’ll be pouting for the rest of the day about a great practical joke going to waste.  Hopefully, y’all don’t have anyone who is a wet blanket for your great jokes y’all have planned for today.