Back before everyone had a cell phone to snap pictures of daily life, I pulled the best prank ever on my younger brother. He was still in high school and I was in college.
It was the summer of 2002. He was going to be a senior in high school that fall. Up until that summer, he was always busy with basketball and during the summer he was usually heading somewhere to play in a tournament. My parents would go and I would have the house to myself.
One beautiful summer day there was nothing to do with basketball or any sports on the agenda. My parents were at work. I noticed my brother was sleeping in, which is something he had never been known to do. He was always on the go!
A friend of mine had told me about this prank to do in the dorm, but I decided to do it to my brother’s room. Luckily for me, my brother slept with his door closed.
The prank is supposed to use wallpaper to cover a doorway opening, but I didn’t have any handy wallpaper, so I used that morning’s newspaper. Yes, it was back in the day when everyone had a newspaper subscription delivered to their front door.
I took the newspaper and opened it up so that each page was fully opened. I used clear packing tape to put the pages together in a spread that would cover the bedroom door opening.
Then, I used painter’s tape to hang the newspaper door covering over his door. I wanted to make sure the tape would not take the paint off the wall or door frame.
The paper makes a crinkly noise so it’s best to have a helper if you can. Also, I used a stepstool to tape above the door. Our stepstool makes a snapping noise when it’s fully opened, so best to open it and snap it away from where he can hear it.
The “wall of paper” should be snugly taped over the door. The bedroom door opened into his room so when he opened the door he would see a wall of paper from the top of the door frame to the floor.
He slept so late that morning! I think it was about 8:30 or 9 a.m. before I heard sounds of him getting up.
I heard the faint sound of the door opening and the paper swooshing. I was not surprised to hear a little profanity.
But, he was so smart! After staring at the wall of paper, he poked a hole in it and looked through it first before tearing it down!
He was a real good sport about it and we still talk about the day he got wallpapered in his room 22 years later!
I was telling my grandmother about this prank and when I got to the part about him swearing, I said, “He said a bad word.” She insisted on hearing exactly what he said, so I told her! (It was the “wtf” phrase.) She threw her hands up and said, “Oh good! I knew he was normal!” We laughed and laughed.
I’d love to hear about your favorite pranks because I am always looking for more fun things to do with my family. I have a few more pranks to share in future posts. Stay tuned!
Read about games my family likes to play: https://livingwithdana.com/2019/02/three-games-youve-got-to-play/
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