The Music Man!

I'm sure that I'm not alone in the fact that I rely on the occasional "bending of the truth," "fib," or "white lie" when it comes to explaining something to my toddler. It isn't my intent to be dishonest with her, but sometimes the real answer to her question (or toddler meltdown, as the case may be) is too lengthy or involves elements she just won't understand. Sometimes, I just want to avoid trouble, especially if we're both a little tired. At the coffee stand, for example, Evelyn sometimes asks for a blueberry muffin. We usually go ahead and get the muffin, but who am I kidding? These extra large muffins are essentially cupcakes without frosting. Have you read the ingredient list? They're practically pure sugar. Sometimes I just tell Evelyn that the coffee stand is out of muffins. She accepts this fact and I offer an alternative snack from home.

Yesterday evening as we ate dinner on our back deck, Evelyn was having a hard time sitting at the table. She just wanted to play and run around and have all of the fun that a gorgeous summer evening has to offer. Then, we heard some music. Chris and I knew exactly what the music meant. We also knew that telling Evelyn the truth about it would almost certainly result in her refusal to eat any dinner at all. I told Evelyn that the loud music we heard from our backyard was coming from "The Music Man." Haven't you heard of him? He drives slowly through neighborhoods, usually in some type of slightly dilapidated white van, and he blasts a carnival rendition of "Turkey in the Straw." Of course, Evelyn instantly asked "Shall we go see the man? Mommy, shall we see him?"

Chris did take her into the front yard and I guess they watched from a distance as the van slowly drove down our street (and then looped back around). I will definitely tell Evelyn the truth about "The Music Man" at some point. After all, she'll probably see kids walking away from the vehicle, ice cream in hand. And, I wouldn't want Evelyn to be embarrassed if, in a couple of years, she asks her friends if they know about The Music Man and they give her blank stares.