When I was growing up my heroes were cowboys. I watched them on television and in the movies. Some had cool names like Hopalong and Cisco. Others like Gene and Roy could sing as well as catch the bad guys. One wore a mask even though he was a good guy, and his partner was an Indian.
My first, and only, superhero was Superman. I watched serials that featured him at the Main Theater in Royal Oak Saturday after Saturday. I knew Superman wasn’t real like the cowboys I admired. He was really just a man who played a part. The thing that made him most interesting was where he lived. My family drove by his house a couple of times each summer because he lived on a lake about twenty miles from us. We never saw him, but I knew where he lived.
By the time David, Elizabeth and Michael were old enough to hold fictitious characters in high esteem we had Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles. And perhaps most exciting, Underoos made the scene. Elizabeth and her friends sported Superhero inspired underwear. People are still buying them.
When Brady was about five, he announced he was “Everybody Man”. “Everybody Man” could do it all. Leap tall buildings in a single bound like Superman, run as fast at The Flash, swim like Aquaman, swing from building to building like Spiderman and solve complex puzzles like Batman. He had a genius intellect and used it wisely.
One day Eva announced that she was Batman. I corrected her and told her she was Batgirl. Incensed, she retorted, “No. I am Batman!!! You are Robin!!!” That was it. I didn’t argue with her. Trying to change the mind of a three-year-old is an effort in futility. We became the dynamic duo.
With our family’s history of superhero admiration, it’s no wonder that Young Jackson James has followed in our footsteps. He’s into Spiderman and Batman. He has, however, taken a giant leap forward. A couple of weeks ago when Michael referred to Jackson as a “boy”, Jackson protested. “No! I am a man! I’m the Muffin Man.!”
The only Muffin Man I know is from the nursery rhyme that originated in England in the early 1800’s. The rhyme refers to a baker who lived on London’s Drury Lane. I recall singing it in kindergarten. Jackson probably heard it in day care.
Oh, do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man.
Do you know the muffin man,
Who lives on Drury Lane?
Oh Yes, I know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Yes, I know the muffin man,
Who lives on Drury Lane.
I know for a fact that Young Jackson James has never been to London. He’s never left the States at all. He does travel through literature and music. He’s a fan of both.
Jackson’s favorite form of transportation is the train. I don’t think he’s ridden one, but he has several toy trains and we’ve read books about them. He stays tuned in to every word.
If The Muffin Man has a superpower beyond baking, it may be his ability to appear from out of nowhere. And this Muffin Man doesn’t live in London. He’s from California’s Laguna Niguel.