WHO KILLED MOTHER GOOSE?

WHAT HAPPENED TO MOTHER GOOSE AND HER NURSERY RHYMES?

Don't you remember that there was no nursery school without nursery rhymes? Could you even graduate nursery school or from your mom's knee if you didn't know every word to "The Old Woman That Lived in a Shoe?" And by the time you did graduate from one of these places, you could quote and/or sing so many so accurately that teachers beamed with pride and moms thought you were just the cutest, smartest thing in the world. I mean I didn't even realize that you could finish your mental growth process unless you learned a few nursery rhymes. That was the prerequisite to going somewhere in life. This was on every good parent's list of things to do with baby/toddler that day. What am I saying in essence? Nursery rhymes WERE IMPORTANT!! I loved them. I still do. What happened?!! Did they go out of style; were they politically incorrect; did we decide that the silly, senseless ones "dumbed down" our kids? So that's what happened to me huh?

Well, I'm going to have "dumbed down" kids because I taught them ones I grew up with when they were small, and they loved hearing them for the same reasons I did, the rhyme and rhythm, the time with parents, the stories they told, the song they sang. Now it seems that my 9 year old has forgotten them. I guess I didn't read them and sing them long enough. Did I join the fast-paced, technological age where we left this stuff behind in the dust for bigger, smarter, better things? Well, I miss those nursery rhymes. I want to sing them and say them to her again. My boys know them. I may have another chance to teach another generation these wonderful rhymes after all. I have a precious little baby girl that I babysit. She'll want to hear them...maybe.

What are your favorite ones? Can you recall them? How far can you quote them before you realize you've forgotten some of the words? Leave me a comment at the bottom of this post telling me your favorite one/s. Quote it if you can, if it's short, and in part if it's long. I'd love to go back down memory lane with you. I'm going to list some of the ones I remember below. I may have to cheat and look some of them up to finish the parts of it that my old brain won't let me recall.

Let's start with "Baa Baa Black Sheep"
Baa, Baa black sheep,
have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir
three bags full;
one for the master,
one for the dame,
one for the little boy
who lives down the lane.


All around the mulberry bush
the monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey thought 'twas all in fun.
Pop! goes the weasel.

A penny for a spool of thread.
A penny for a needle.
That's the way the money goes.
Pop! goes the weasel.

Up and down the City Road,
in and out of the Eagle,
That's the way the money goes.
Pop! goes the weasel.

Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
half a pound of treacle,
mix it up, and make it nice.
Pop! goes the weasel.
(Still love it! I can just see myself cranking the handle on a jack-in-the-box and hearing this rhyme/song still--I didn't even know what it was talking about then, but I loved it, and it still sticks with me)


Doctor Foster went to Gloucester
In a shower of rain.
He stepped in a puddle
Right up to his middle,
And never went there again!


You guys MUST remember The Eency Weency Spider and The Farmer in the Dell!! They are too big for me to type out here, but does that not bring back memories?!! There are so many more I remember like:

Georgie Porgie, puddin' and pie
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away!

What? Did ol' George think he was about to get the royal "beat down" from the boys who discovered he had kissed the girls and made them cry? Is that why he ran away? Oh Word! If we try to analyze nursery rhymes,...now that's a whole different story or post. We could have some serious fun with that!!

Well, thanks for walking down memory lane with me. I've really enjoyed recalling these. I think that I will not rule them out forever like some have. I think that even these modern day babies can still enjoy these...even if they don't know yet what they mean!:)