Weird Holiday Alert: My Bucket's Got a Hole in it Day

JeanneSager — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:32:00 GMT

There are certain things every child needs to know. Chief among them: at least one song that will drive their parents absolutely bonkers (or their grandparents if you prefer).

And considering today is "My Bucket's Got a Hole In It Day," we're happy to oblige.

Because if Pete Seeger at 90 can get up onstage and inspire a rendition of There's a Hole in the Bucket (out of Kris Kristofferson and Ani DiFranco, no less), than your kids surely need to know the story of Liza and Henry. Right?

The old German folk song has been a Seeger favorite and recorded by the likes of Burl Ives, about a couple who just can't seem to get things right. Or at least never fix their bucket.

It's annoying as all get out, but hey, you have a whole summer to teach it to your kids then let them loose at the family reunion, right? So we rustled up the lyrics for you, courtesy of a Girl Scouts Song Lyrics Index on About.com:

Liza: Henry! Fetch me some water!
Henry:There's a hole in my bucket dear Liza, dear Liza
There's a hole in my bucket dear Liza, a hole.

L: Well, fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Well, fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

H:With what shall I fix it ...
L: With a straw dear Henry ...
H:The straw is too long ...
L: Well, cut it dear Henry ...
H:With what shall I cut it ...
L: With an axe dear Henry ...
H:The axe is too dull dear Liza ...
L: Well, sharpen it dear Henry ...
H:With what shall I sharpen it ...
L: With a stone dear Henry ...
H:The stone is too dry dear Liza ...
L: Well, wet it dear Henry ...
H:With what shall I wet it ...
L: With water dear Henry ...
H:In what shall I fetch it ...
L: In a bucket dear Henry ...
H:There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza ...

If you take a video of your kids doing it, put it up on YouTube, but really, you don't have to share it with us. The knowledge that we're not the only ones with this song now permanently stuck in our heads is thanks enough!

Image: Current

Keep Kids Creative - Play With Them

JeanneSager — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:32:00 GMT

Who makes up holidays? I’m fine with the religious (Christmas, Yom Kippur, etc.) and the secular/quasi-governmental (Labor Day, Memorial Day, etc.), but whoever earned permission to dub today Hobbit Day and this Wednesday Punctuation Day needs to get a day job.

Of course I’m going to sound like a bit of a hypocrite when I admit today starts my own celebration of National Keep Kids Creative Week.

Author/illustrator Bruce Van Patter, is trying to keep the fourth week of September officially dedicated to removing the imprint of kids’ butts from the couch cushions. He started in the fall of 2003, and now hosts a Website full of ideas to help families who are stumped for ideas of their own.

I can do him one better. If you want your kids to be creative, get your own tuckus off the couch and let your imagination run wild with them. A survey commissioned by HearthSong late this summer found 62 percent of parents admit to playing with their kids less than an hour a day. One in six parents don’t even spend an hour a week engaging in some sort of playtime.We’re a bunch of lazy you-know-whats.

OK, I’m climbing back down off the horse. The air was a little thin up there. Some days, I just don’t want to play with my kid. I can only let a pull-back car loose to fly across the floor so many times before I want to pick up a book. And I have as much fun filling a bucket with sand as I do watching paint dry. Go ahead, play me a sad song on the violin.

Oh, but wait. I gave birth. I’m a mom. So playing with my kid is . . . . (wait for it) . . . my job. So we’ll be celebrating with a rousing game of let the toy car crash into the wall 50 times or so followed by a thrilling trip to the sandbox. Hey, she’s happy.

Strollerderby : weird holidays

Weird Holiday Alert: My Bucket's Got a Hole in it Day

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Keep Kids Creative - Play With Them