Jump Rope Songs
Posted by Ahkhira@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 21 comments
I was tasked with babysitting some young family members. I am terrible at babysitting. Unfortunately, no one else was available, and I found myself in charge of 6 of my younger cousin's children, the oldest of their kids being 7 years old.
I have a bit if land where it's totally safe for kids to run amuck and get dirty, so I had them all outside. Two of the girls were trying to figure out how to jump rope without tripping, so I brought up some of the jump rope songs that my older sisters used to sing. Yes, I remember them, mostly because I found them completely annoying.
None of the kids knew any of the jump rope rhymes. I was kind of surprised.
The whole day turned into "Tell me what else you used to play when you were little," so I did.
We had an epic whiffle ball game, played jump rope, I drew hopscotch for them, and taught them kickball and every variation of "Tag" that I could remember.
They were sleeping when their parents returned, but now I'm getting calls from the cousins complaining about the jump rope rhymes and other "annoying" things that I taught the kids.
What are some of the jump rope songs that you remember?
I'm in particular trouble with my youngest cousin over and "inappropriate" one. (There is a huge age gap between me and her- 19 years.) What am I in trouble for?
Johnny by the ocean
Johnny by the sea
Johnny broke a bottle and blamed it on me
I told Ma
Ma told Pa
Johnny got a lickin' so ha, ha, ha!
Apparently, I'm not supposed to be teaching the kids to "tattle and laugh about abuse."
Were the schoolyard rhymes and games really that bad? I feel old.
SusieShowherbra@reddit
The Miss Lucy song has 2 variants:
Miss Lucy had a steamboat The Steamboat had a bell Miss Lucy pulled the wrong cord The steamboat went to Hello operator, please give me number nine And if you disconnect me, I’ll kick you right Behind the frigerator, there was a piece of glass Miss Lucy fell upon it and broke her little Ask me no more questions. I’ll tell you no more lies. Miss Lucy told me all of this the day before she Dyed her hair purple, she dyed her hair pink She died her hair in underwear and washed it down the Sink me in the ocean, sink me in the sea Sink me in the toilet but don’t you pee in me
Or
Miss Lucy had a baby She named it tiny Tim She put him in the bathtub To see if he could swim He drank up all the water He ate a bar of soap He tried to eat the bathtub But it wouldn’t go down his throat Miss Lucy called the doctor Miss Lucy called the nurse Miss Lucy called the lady with the alligator purse Dead said the doctor, dead said the nurse Dead said the lady with the alligator purse
snark_maiden@reddit
Haha, I remember the second one from listening to Sharon, Lois and Bram when my kids were little ❤️ SLB version went “the doctor called the nurse, the nurse called the lady with the alligator purse/Measles said the doctor, measles said the nurse, chickenpox said the lady with the alligator purse!”
SusieShowherbra@reddit
Yes! I’ve heard the “disease” version too !
snark_maiden@reddit
Miss Lucy by Sharon, Lois and Bram
archedhighbrow@reddit
These are great
Ahkhira@reddit (OP)
I do remember variants of those, only it was Miss Suzy instead of Lucy.
My sister reminded me of the second one. I had forgotten that one.
SusieShowherbra@reddit
We used Miss Lucy and Miss Susie interchangeably
Comfortable_Nose2587@reddit
Kind of unrelated, but do kids still do “Chinese jump rope”?… in, out, side, side, on, in, out!! (with about a million variations😉)
Ahkhira@reddit (OP)
I honestly don't know if kids still do that. I haven't even seen one since I was little, and it was mostly used by my sisters where they did this thing where they wrapped it around their hands and passed it back and forth, I think. To me, it just looked like they were tangling each other up.
Thanks for the idea! I'll call my sisters and ask. I'm babysitting again in a couple of weeks. We're going to have a summer just like I did in the very early 80s. There will be dirt, bicycles, hose water, camp fires, junk food, and more. I'm going to enjoy being the fun older cousin.
Now, where did I put my boom box...
vegan_voorhees@reddit
I only remember The Clapping Song one:
Eight six nine
The geese drank wine
The monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line
Providence451@reddit
Cinderella dressed in yella
Went upstairs to kiss her fella
Made a mistake
Kissed a snake
How many doctors does it take?
(1,2,3 etc.)
Ahkhira@reddit (OP)
I'm not sure how I forgot that one!
Thanks! More fun for next time!
archedhighbrow@reddit
I can only remember one.
I am a pretty little Dutch girl, as pretty as pretty can be, and all the boys around the block are crazy over me. I have a boyfriend Patty, who lives in Cincinnati, with 48 toes and a pickle on his nose, and this is the way the story goes. One day, while I was walking, I saw my boyfriend talking to a cute little girl with a strawberry curl, and this is what he said to her. "I l-o-v-e love you. I k-i-s-s kiss you. I k-i-s-s you on your f-a-c-e face, face, face.
Ahkhira@reddit (OP)
That's one that I haven't heard. Thanks for sharing!
archedhighbrow@reddit
You're welcome, and thank you for bringing back memories!
justmisspellit@reddit
Go scorched earth with
Joy to the world, the school burned down, and all the teachers died
We’re looking for the principal, he’s hanging from the flag pole
With a rope around his neck, with a rope around his neck, with a rope, a rope, around his neck.
Bonus offensiveness since it’s sung to the tune of a Xmas carol
Ahkhira@reddit (OP)
Ooo!
We had a slightly different version:
Joy to the world, the teacher's dead!
We barbecued her head!
What happened to her body?
We flushed it down the potty
Now all the kids are free,
Now all the kids are free...
I agree. This one is hopelessly annoying and probably always sung off-key. I will, of course, have to teach them NOT to sing it in school. I'm sure this would get someone suspended in the current times.
I am really enjoying the variants of these old schoolyard songs! I hope everyone keeps sharing!
Br00klynBelle@reddit
No, they really weren’t that bad. Most of them were just fine, and the ones that were a bit suggestive or potentially offensive weren’t so bad either, but boy did we feel like we were getting away with something singing them!
Your cousin is completely overreacting, and really ungrateful. You went above and beyond to give those kids a good day, the kind that most who simply stare at screens all day never have anymore, and complains instead of thanking you.
When I was 10, my parents sent me away to sleep away camp. For some reason, I was placed in a bunkhouse with 13 year olds instead of other 10 year olds. They all treated me kindly, like a little sister, but boy did I learn some HIGHLY inappropriate, vulgar camp songs that summer! And somehow I survived and became a decent human being. Your cousin’s kids will be fine too.
Ahkhira@reddit (OP)
Thanks. I think we turned out just fine, too.
The kids had a great time. There wasn't a video screen in sight for the whole day.
I somehow forgot to teach them camp songs!
How much trouble will I be in for the camp songs?
🎵Great, green gobs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts... 🎵
It's gonna be a fun summer!
lowfreq33@reddit
So you got guilted into babysitting 6 children, I’m assuming with no financial compensation, and they’re mad you played jump rope and hopscotch with them, and some nursery rhymes? I won’t say what I personally would say, but I think you know where to tell them they can go.
Ahkhira@reddit (OP)
Basically, yeah.
I'm wondering what other "inappropriate" stuff I can come up with next.
My older sisters think it's hilarious. The oldest one sent me a list of annoying songs that we used to sing in the car and a couple more jump rope songs that I forgot.
Only one cousin is upset. The other two cousins have sort of playfully chastised me for getting them so dirty, and I can't really say that I blame them. We did play kickball and whiffle ball in the old horse paddock, and I did return the kids with a fine layer of sand covering their play clothes.