I read a book of nursery rhymes to my two-year old, and he looked at me as if I had no idea what I was talking about.
And, really, I didn’t.
I don’t get nursery rhymes. They are short, many are dark and most don’t make sense to me.
For example:
Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
The butcher, the baker,
The candlestick-maker.
Um. That’s it? And why were these businessmen in a tub together? Was it a hot tub?
My two year old just asked “Why?”
I get that, historically, most nursery rhymes were about political events of the past. Most are English. They didn’t have blogs back then, so they conveyed their feelings through children’s rhymes. (Plus, kids stories equaled less punishment from the royal family.)
Now that we can speak freely about politics, can we get rid of the nursery rhymes? They really just confuse kids now.
“Ring Around the Rosie” is allegedly about the Bubonic Plague. “Jack and Jill” is about the beheadings of King Louis XVI Queen Marie Antoinette.
Yankees call feathers in their cap macaroni. Babies fall out of cradles in trees.
I’ll take Goodnight Moon any day of the week.
