I had no idea how complicated “Patty Cake” could be until Joshua started to learn it. Or rather, until we started to teach it to him. As he has learned the not-so-simple process of clapping, rolling his hands, and then tossing them up in the air, I have learned that nursery rhymes are not as straightforward as I always thought they were. I have wondered how flawed my “well-duh” knowledge really is. For example, I seem to have left mixing out of the nursery rhyme. I had learned “Patty Cake” with a little tune or jingle, which I have since learned (much to my chagrin) was not universally taught. And we haven’t quite broken it to Joshua that at some point he needs to mark it with some letter—“B” or “J”, depending on who you ask and how much they insist that nursery rhymes actually, well, rhyme. I’m not sure how long we should wait to tell him that he really should probably decide how to mark his cake. I think it’s important that he make the decision, so he can live with the consequences. But we haven’t talked with him much about the importance of rhyme and meter, probably because I, even though I just finished requirements for an English degree, don’t know much about them. That’s not entirely true, but I think he should have the choice of whether he wants to take creative license.
He’s actually learned the whole thing quite well. He really likes rolling more than anything else, and he’s not quite on cue at each stage. But it’s been a lot of fun. I sure hope that my incomplete knowledge of nursery rhymes, bedtime songs, and the like won’t put him at too severe a disadvantage. I mean, college and graduate school admissions are getting tougher every year. Who knows if someday he’ll be kept out because he doesn’t know how a particular nursery rhyme was supposed to go? But I sure like my little guy and we have a lot of fun together.
Have you ever discovered that you didn’t know something that was supposed to be common knowledge—especially nursery rhymes or children’s songs? It’s kind of a weird feeling and I’d like to know that I’m not alone. Thanks.
