For most people, pranks are something best left for April Fool's Day and should be avoided for the rest of the year - as there aren't many of us who would enjoy having someone play tricks on us all year round.
But one dad on Reddit has learned the hard way how upsetting unwanted pranks can be after he left his 18-year-old daughter "dumbfounded" by pulling a prank on her on the morning of her birthday.
The dad explained that his 16-year-old son had told him about his plan to "smash cake" into his sister's face on her birthday as soon as she woke up, and he decided to step in and help because he thought it would "make her laugh".
Instead, the teenager was simply left "upset", and while she did enjoy the rest of her birthday, she was clearly unhappy with her dad and her brother.
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In his post, the man wrote: "My daughter’s 18th birthday was yesterday. On the eve of her birthday, my son told me about his idea to smash cake and whipped cream on his big sister’s face when she woke up. I thought this would be funny and make my daughter laugh first thing on her birthday, so I agreed to do it with my son.
"I would say my biggest regret here is not telling my wife I knew about the plan.
"My daughter woke up at 8 yesterday and when she first came to the breakfast table, my son and I were waiting. We pounced and we each grabbed a slice of chocolate cake and smeared it onto her face and I yelled happy birthday.
"My wife came to our daughter’s rescue and started yelling at me all the while my daughter was just dumbfounded and shocked. My son and I realised we made a mistake and we apologised, and my daughter went to take a shower.
"The rest of the day was smooth sailing and my daughter had a fun birthday besides the morning incident but she was clearly upset at her brother and me."
The dad insisted he felt bad for the prank but thought it would help make his daughter's birthday "more memorable".
Commenters on the post disagreed with the dad though, as many of them said he was wrong for pranking his daughter and pointed out that most people aren't fond of having tricks played on them - especially not on their birthday.
One person said: "You started your daughter's birthday off with a deeply unpleasant experience and then laughed at her distress. If your biggest regret is that you didn't tell your wife beforehand, you're even more wrong.
"Pranks are usually only funny to the people who get to torment and humiliate the victim."
While another added: "This is the kind of thing that's funny only to the ones perpetuating the 'joke'. It's cruel, mean, and disrespectful as it gets."
And a third wrote: "What's the punchline and why would your daughter find it funny? If the target isn't laughing its bullying, and you enabled your son."
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