My wife and I often sing to our daughter; nothing special there. We often disagree on the lyrics to ye olde childrens' songs; again, no big news. And more often than not, we simply make up lyrics as we go along. All was fine...until two nights ago, when we discovered the base-line difference between us two. Who knew that, after 9+ years of dating and almost 5 years of marriage, it would take "Five Little Monkeys" to truly bring to light the different colored glasses through which we see the world.
Here's the scene:
I am drying off and dressing the little one, and my wife launches into "Five Little Monkeys." I'll let you play along. Finish the lyric:
"Five little monkeys sitting in a tree, one falls off and now there's _____."
My very intelligent wife who aced college (honor's program, no less), medical school, and four years of medical residency calmly completes the line: "four".
What!?! I couldn't believe it. Four? Let's try it in a sing-song style:
"Five little monkeys sitting in a tree, one falls off and now there's four."
I can appreciate off-rhyme; I can live with breaks in schemes for attention-grabs and importance. But it's a kid's song, right? Don't we usually stick to the rules for a kid's song?
My version:
"Five little monkeys sitting in a tree, one falls off and now there's three."
See how nicely the rhyme completes itself. It's nothing to write home about, but there's some parallel there. What happened to the other monkey? Well, that's the imagination part of the song. In fact, to really get the little one's mind going, I think it should actually be:
"Five little monkeys sitting in a tree, one falls off and now there's twenty-three."
But then the rhythm is all off. Again...it's a kid's song. Let's keep the rhythm in order, right?
My wife and I have survived differences in race, religion, culture, study habits, shopping techniques, priorities, TV viewing habits, average temperature, etc., but when it comes right down to it...she sides with the numbers, I side with the words.
and on with life.
shanti,
mjh
3 comments:
I thought it was "Five Little Monkey's Sitting on a Fence" and Garet thought it was "Five Little Monkey's Jumping on the Bed"...just to add to the confusion!
"the bed" sounds familiar. The monkeys actually made an appearance "on the bus" tonight, right after the "wheels went round and round".
Yea...
I only know about the 'jumping on the bed'.
Other than that... I think that I would have to go with the numbers. sorry.
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