The thing about nursery rhymes....

Remember those nursery rhymes that we learned, eons ago? I remembered a few today and what struck me is that most nursery rhymes are negative and pretty destructive. Nursery rhymes are meant to be happy or to impart some sort of moral. Problem is, very few are. Most of the ones that we remember are probably the following:

1. Humpty Dumpty
2. Jack and Jill
3. Twinkle Twinkle little star
4. Baa baa black sheep
5. London bridge is falling down
6. Little miss muffet
7. Ringa Ringa roses

There are others which we would remember only if we read them again. Not stuff we can recall from memory. What's the problem with these, you ask? 5 out of 7 are sad.

Let's see... Humpty Dumpty was a shell which cracked when the poor guy fell off the wall, which could not be fixed.... Jack and Jill had a plan to get water from up the hill. Instead Jack broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after... London Bridge just FELL... Nothing would keep it up. Little miss muffet was scared away by a spider while she was peacefully eating her curd and whey. We all know, at least the girls do, how ringa ringa roses goes. All fall down at the end of it, literally. And 'ringa ringa'? Really?

Why would kids be taught these? Why can't only 'twinkle twinkle little star' or the baa baa black sheep be taught ? Makes no sense to me at least. No wonder many kids like cracking and breaking things, push other kids down or perhaps get scared by spiders. :P

And to see little kids bob their heads with sheer glee to sing a rhyme about a egg-with-legs that cracked and could not be fixed is well, just sadism. Don't you think? :)