Nursery rhymes are stupid!

[shinysparklybubbles]

I have a 2 year old and every once in a blue moon he will let me hold him like a baby. So tonight he was getting ready for bed and let me hold and rock him. I started singing "rock a by baby" and he started to cry and say he didn't want to fall out of a tree :-( poor kid! Won't be singing that again lol

 

[FredinFL]

Aw, make up other words for it. That's what I do.

Nursery rhymes are actually really important (who knew?) I have a relative in the speech therapy "business" and she says that kids actually "getting" the rhyming are learning a lot about how to speak properly.

 

[LuvOrlando]

yeah they are, the only thing worse than the rhymes are the bedtime stories, talk about scary... Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood... nothing like a story about abductions and murder to sooth a kid off to a good nights sleep

We did Disney songs & books "You'll be in my heart" was our bedtime song

Dr Seuss was good for the rhymes, we had all of them... I think I still know them by heart

 

[Goofyluver]

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I die before I wake...




If I die before I wake??? What kind of a way is that to put a kid to sleep?

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I die before I wake...




If I die before I wake??? What kind of a way is that to put a kid to sleep?

Yeah, we don't do that one! I want my kid to have pleasant dreams!

 

[bumbershoot]

I never sang "rockabye baby" until DS was quite a bit older, and the first time I did OOH the look I got! He thought I'd gone mad, singing that to him.

We just didn't do a lot of nursery rhymes at all, since the books given to me at my shower (the people that threw it asked guests to bring their fave kid's story fo rme to *read*, then at the last minute changed it to "give Molly a book", and only one did) were dollar store nursery rhyme books and showed me the *original* stories. Like...lots of those rhymes are pretty racist in the dollar store versions... (bah bah black sheep...one for my *master*"??? along with illustrations, and there was another rhyme about a slave woman having to give up her children...)

I kinda gave up on the nursery rhymes after that. Made up my own stuff.

 

[61292cna]

yeah they are, the only thing worse than the rhymes are the bedtime stories, talk about scary... Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood... nothing like a story about abductions and murder to sooth a kid off to a good nights sleep

We did Disney songs & books "You'll be in my heart" was our bedtime song

Dr Seuss was good for the rhymes, we had all of them... I think I still know them by heart[/QUOTE


"that Sam I am, that Sam I am, I do not like that Sam I am!"

"that cat should not be here, he should not be about, that cat should not be here when your mother is out"

 

[PaulaSB12]

My favourite when I was little was oranges and lemons there are two versions

Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clement's.

You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin's.

When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey.

When I grow rich,
Say the bells of Shoreditch.

When will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney.

I do not know,
Says the great bell of Bow.

Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!



Gay go up and gay go down,
To ring the bells of London town.

Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clements.

Bull's eyes and targets,
Say the bells of St. Marg'ret's.

Brickbats and tiles,
Say the bells of St. Giles'.

Halfpence and farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin's.

Pancakes and fritters,
Say the bells of St. Peter's.

Two sticks and an apple,
Say the bells of Whitechapel.

Pokers and tongs,
Say the bells of St. John's.

Kettles and pans,
Say the bells of St. Ann's.

Old Father Baldpate,
Say the slow bells of Aldgate.

You owe me ten shillings,
Say the bells of St. Helen's.

When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey.

When I grow rich,
Say the bells of Shoreditch.

Pray when will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney.

I do not know,
Says the great bell of Bow.

Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head.

Chop chop chop chop
The last man's dead!

 

[Carriemel]

I like that one too. And before people get up in arms about "the last man's dead"...

My favourite when I was little was oranges and lemons there are two versions


Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!

And...

Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head.

Chop chop chop chop
The last man's dead!

Those highlighted lines only refer to the candle's flame being extinguished by a "candleman", who would snip off the tip of the candle. That was how they "turned off the streetlights" back when these rhymes were first written. It's not in reference to any type of murder or actual death, just the candle light dying.

 

[mhsjax]

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I die before I wake...




If I die before I wake??? What kind of a way is that to put a kid to sleep?

The church preschool that our kids went to actually changed it a bit.

Now I lay me down down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
Angels watch me through the night
Till I wake in morning light.

Much nicer thought. I don't who comes up with some of this stuff.

 

[Rora]

Ring Around the Rosy is about the Black Plauge..

I've never liked Nursery Rhymes. If rhymes are important for speech development, I'd read Dr. Seuss to my kids!

 

[Harley Quinn]

My favourite when I was little was oranges and lemons there are two versions

Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clement's.

You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin's.

When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey.

When I grow rich,
Say the bells of Shoreditch.

When will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney.

I do not know,
Says the great bell of Bow.

Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!



Gay go up and gay go down,
To ring the bells of London town.

Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clements.

Bull's eyes and targets,
Say the bells of St. Marg'ret's.

Brickbats and tiles,
Say the bells of St. Giles'.

Halfpence and farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin's.

Pancakes and fritters,
Say the bells of St. Peter's.

Two sticks and an apple,
Say the bells of Whitechapel.

Pokers and tongs,
Say the bells of St. John's.

Kettles and pans,
Say the bells of St. Ann's.

Old Father Baldpate,
Say the slow bells of Aldgate.

You owe me ten shillings,
Say the bells of St. Helen's.

When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey.

When I grow rich,
Say the bells of Shoreditch.

Pray when will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney.

I do not know,
Says the great bell of Bow.

Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head.

Chop chop chop chop
The last man's dead!

My son's school worships at the church in the rhyme and once a year they have an Orange and Lemons Service in the Church and at the end of it they are given an Orange and a Lemon.

Rora Ring A ring roses isn't about the black plague.

http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.asp

 

[Rora]

Rora Ring A ring roses isn't about the black plague.

http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.asp

Interesting!! Thanks for sharing..!

Regardless, it's still creepy.. IMO!

 

[love2disney]

Ya there is Jack and Jill who fall down. There is a piggy whose bones are broken by a train. This list is endless with Humpty Dumpty having a fall and a whole lot of people not being able to put him back again to London bridge falling down to Little Bo peep who loses her sheep. And the only advice we can give her is give up your search and the sheep will come back. O ya that will work when my son loses his legos and waits for them to come back to the toy box on their own.

Then there is Georgie Porgie who makes the girls cry when he kisses them and there the battle which was lost for want of a horseshoe nail. All the rhymes speak or bad behavior or end in tragedy.

There are so many others with the spider who scares Miss Muffet to the cat who was thrown in the well in Ding Dong bell. These innocent rhymes look easy to teach but do deserve the thought of what we are putting in the minds of impressionable kids. As for me I think I will stick to Twinkle twinkle the safest rhyme of them all.

 

[lovesmurfs]

We had a tape of nursery rhyme songs when DD was little. The one I'd fast forward through is Goosey Goosey Gander:

Goosey goosey gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.

There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
So I took him by his left leg
And threw him down the stairs.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

The church preschool that our kids went to actually changed it a bit.

Now I lay me down down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
Angels watch me through the night
Till I wake in morning light.

Much nicer thought. I don't who comes up with some of this stuff.

Thank you for sharing that! So much nicer!!!

 

[Liberty Belle]

I always sang:

Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall
And Mommy will catch baby, cradle and all.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I die before I wake...




If I die before I wake??? What kind of a way is that to put a kid to sleep?

That used to terrify me when I was little! I refused to say it - or I'd say it and then afterwards add that I really don't want him to take me! I thought if I said it, it was telling God that I was ready to die.