the NKVD, KGB, FSB called it "active measures", i call them youthful pranks!

Alright, published or not I got 3 comments requesting a post about my childhood pranks. You voted, you get what you ask for! Democracy at work.

Age 5. While outside playing "Star Trek" with my younger brother we were fighting over who got to be which character. I eventually won and got to be Captain Kirk, while he had to be Spock. In my child like, vengefulness I said to him "Hey Spock, come over here and tell me what this is." Well I knew exactly what it was and what I was going to do with it. A shovel full of dirt. His unwitting face.

"No Spock, bend down and look closer so you can really see what it is." BAM! I flung the shovel full of dirt into his face with all my 5 year old might.

Crying. Tears. Tattling. Incrimination. Spanking. I didn't care though, I got my revenge. (later i would always be han solo to his luke skywalker and so on. in my guilt i always let him be who he wanted when we were playing)

Age 8. Before a closer school was built we had to ride the bust for a few years of elementary school. The bus stop was about two blocks away in your standard west coast suburban neighborhood. Well like any group of kids we had ones we like and ones we didn't at the bus stop.

My creative little kid mind at work decided the best thing to do would be to hide each morning, all of us who first got to the bus stop. Thus whoever showed up "late", would think they missed the bus and have to trudge back home to face their mom's wrath and then be driven to school. Of course when we were late we made sure to really search the area well, just to make sure the same prank wasn't being played back on us.

Age 10. My sister at the time had a good collection of some very popular, rare and expensive dolls. Being a good little Cub Scout I knew all sorts of knots. Oh, like the hangman's noose for one. Hmmmmm....... Alright, a quick trip to the garage is in order.
Rope. Hammer. Nails. Step ladder.

Pound the nails into the top of the door frame. Step two tie 4 nooses. Step three is to slide the four little dollies heads into the nooses. Now the final step, just like in soo many cartoons with buckets and water that I'd seen, to finely balance them on top of the door so that when she went into her bedroom and opened the door BAM, down fall her precious little dollies right in front of her face! Hung 'dead'.

Maniacal laugh. Wait till she saw us (myself and her other older brother, Spock) teaching her cat how to be a submarine.

Age 12-14. Fireworks. Hiding in the closet to jump out. Egging houses. Snow balling cars. Using scotch tape to hold the sprayer handle down at the sink, soaking who ever unknowingly walked up to get some water out of the sink.

Changing time on all the clocks in the house. Taking money out of my dad's wallet, throwing it out the window and then waiting a hour to go out into the yard and "find" money. You know, these sorts of things.

And due to the statue of limitations on pranks with family or friends there is none, I can't go into anything from age 15 onward.