What is the most ridiculous thing you have ever had to say to a kid? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.
Answer by Rick Bruno, retired cop, marathoner, husband, father, and grandfather, on Quora:
My wife and I had four kids in three years (the last two are twins). All boys. It was a very chaotic--but wonderful--time in our lives. Sort of like being tickled to death.
Anyway, one warm summer afternoon, when our oldest son Gregory was about four years old, I heard the familiar sound of the ice cream truck coming down the block. In Pied Piper fashion, the loud (and annoying, to adult ears) music was calling all children to spend their coins on ice cream and popsicles.
I was holding one toddler, my wife was holding another toddler, a three year old was rearranging the sofa cushions to recreate Disney World, and the four year old was writing his memoirs somewhere in the backyard, oblivious to the ice cream truck's demand for attention.
I turned to my wife and said, "Honey, why don't you give Greg some money for the ice cream truck?"
She said, "Don't get started on that. I don't have time to drop everything and everyone every time that damn truck comes down the block. I told him it's the Music Truck." This she spoke as the toddler in her arms spit up part of his lunch on her, and was wiping the rest of his strained peas in her hair. I realized she had a point, yet I was reluctant to take part in this conspiracy.
So for weeks the "Music Truck" rolled down the block with Gregory paying it no mind.
Then one day, while he was across the street playing with his plump little friend Tommy (who never missed a snack in his life), the Music Truck came down the block again.
A few minutes went by. Once again, I was holding one baby, and my wife was holding another when suddenly our front door opened. It was four-year-old Gregory, who promptly slammed the door behind him, and stood in the foyer looking up at me, arms crossed, back against the door, with a very angry look on his face.
Being a trained observer (cop), I said, "What's wrong with you?"
He said, "Guess what the Music Truck sells?"
I said, "Talk to your Mother."
Apparently the ruse unraveled when Tommy's plump little ears picked up the tune, and he scrambled to grab some money for the treat. Greg asked him what he was doing, Tommy told him about the Music Truck's cuisine, and there you have it.
Gregory has two kids now, and he tells them it's a Music Truck too.
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