Pesce d'Aprile

I should know about these things. I have a ten year old boy, I should be a better informed mom. Well, it is too late now. My boy took the bus this morning as usual, and I went to have coffee with my friend Pien.
As everybody knows, our regular bar closes on Tuesdays, not Mondays like everything else in town, but Tuesdays. Today we went to the other bar in town, which serves much better coffee but has the ambience of a cocktail lounge at 7:00 AM, this is the reason why you will only see us here on Tuesdays. But I digress, we went into the bar/pasticceria and I noticed some beautiful chocolate fish, as well as some pastries in the shape of fish.
Pien said they were pesce d'Aprile, which is celebrated on April first. In Italy, it is a day to play pranks on others, not unlike April's fools in the States. I learned that children make paper cut-outs in the shape of fish, and they try and stick it on a friend's back. At this point everyone else starts asking about the fish: Have you seen it? while the unsuspected victim asks: Who? What? and everybody laughs and says: il pesce d'Aprile! (April's fish). It should be fun!
I hope Nicolas has a chance to play some tricks, he loves to fool people! Most likely, he will come home with his back full of fish wondering why I did not tell him anything about this!!! Parenting is a full time job, I tell you.
I am on my way to buy some chocolate fish to vindicate myself. I will join any celebration that includes chocolate!
I read that adults also play some serious pranks on each other. Classic ones included radio broadcast (Orson Welles' style) announcing a Martian invasion, or money giveaways.
Pesce d'Aprile is not over yet, there is still a chance that Berlusconi will come out and say that he was playing a trick on us and that in reality he will NOT run! I am fooling myself!