Piper’s been playing tricks on us. It’s her new thing. She inherited a bag of discarded pranks from Sissy’s bygone trickster days. Round two is just as funny.

“Here, Mom! Can you open this can of potato chips for me?” Piper asks, handing me one of these:

“Oh no!” I exaggerate. “I had no idea these weren’t real!”

That sends Piper into a fit of giggles on the floor…right next to the fake dog poop, which she’s strategically placed right next to the fake vomit and the fake rat she’s blaming it all on.

“Mom! There’s a rat in our house! And it pooped and threw up on the floor!”

“A what?” I play along.

“A rat! It’s right there next to the snake. And the poop and stuff. We better run!” Piper sprints out of the room. She comes back seconds later. “Whew! I need some water. Here, Mom, drink out of this cup. I poured you a nice glass of water.”

I take the miniature plastic cup filled with lukewarm tap water. “Thanks, Piper. That sounds refreshing.” Dribble, dribble. The water seeps out from two holes near the lip. “What? I guess I forgot how to drink water!”

“Oh, Mom. You’re so funny!”

“No, Piper. You are!”

“Mom, did you just fart? I heard a fart!”

And she’s only halfway through the prank stash.