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Saturday 13 September 2008

Life with a toddler 2 - Old Macdonald

There is a popular children's song in England about what Old Macdonald has on his farm. I have no idea if it has any equivalent in any other country, but it goes something like this...

Old Macdonald has a farm
E-I-E-I-O
And on that farm he has a (something e.g. horse)
E-I-E-I-O
With a neigh neigh here
And a neigh there
Here a neigh, there a neigh,
Everywhere a neigh neigh.
Old Macdonald has a farm,
E-I-E-I-O.

So why the lyrics?
BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN SINGING THEM AND HEARING THEM CONSTANTLY FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS!

As anyone with a toddler will know, they tend to get obsessive about things sometimes. The experts tell us that toddlers like the same things repeated as it gives them a sense of control and understanding. Here is something familiar that I know about and understand as opposed to all the other stuff that I haven't yet got a clue about.

With Angus this has been singing Old Macdonald. And asking to have it sung, sometimes at really inappropriate times. And then asking again. And again.

The funny thing is that we have realised that he often asks when he wants OM to have something really weird on his farm - and then you are left inventing some sound effect for whatever it is that he now has on his extremely wide and varied homestead! OM is clearly into diversification!

Some of the things Old Macdonald now has on his farm:
Cow
Sheep
Horse
Chicken
Hen
Duck
Cat
Dog (quite normal so far!)
Giraffe
Elephant
Camel
Crocodile (more wild life park than farm)
Red
Blue (the colour, not the dog, although he has been requested too!)
Green
Yellow (somewhat abstract)
Love (cute)
Hug (just as cute)
Water (in England after all this rain, more like flood water)
Knees
Toes
Nose
Mouth
Ears
a Sneeze
Tractor
Lorry
Car
Motorbike
An axe
Chainsaw (those were during Scout camp)
Trousers
Oboe
Trumpet
Flute
Violin
Guitar (this was after listening to the radio and Angus asking what they all were)

and my favourite - poo (yes, probably lots of it...on a normal farm)

Now, what sound effects would you come up with for some of those?

Oh, chocolate has appeared several times too. Yum, yum.

1 comment:

The Gutsy Mom said...

Oh dear. What DOES yellow say? Or giraffe? Toes definitely say "wiggle." And, I agree, chocolate says "yum yum." LOVE THE LIST!