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Someone has truly said that each of us has a child hidden somewhere in us. This child comes out in various instances whether its during our emotional times with our loved ones, the times when we are successful or fail in our endeavours, the times when we want to feel loved and cared for and the likes. Moreover along with this our childhood also comes to the fore when we talk about bedtime stories and nursery rhymes.
From bedtime stories like Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Little Red Riding Hood to the nursery rhymes like London Bridge is Falling Down and Humpty Dumpty, there was so much which shaped our childhood. These stories and rhymes helped us dream. They helped us imagine and visualize a world which didn’t exist in reality. They gave wings to our thoughts and took us on a never before thought of trip around the world.
Take the case of “Little Red Riding Hood” which is the story of a girl called “Little Red Riding Hood” who has to take food from her mother’s house to her grandmother’s place. Her mother told her to avoid talking strangers during her journey. The girl meets a wolf while on the way. Despite her mother’s warning she tells him where she’s headed. Hearing this, the wolf convinces her that he will lead her home but instead he kills the girl as well as the grandmother.
One of the most important learning’s from this is the fact that we shouldn’t trust strangers at the drop of a hat. The world is a dangerous place with all kinds of people lurking around. We never know when danger can strike us and therefore, prevention is always better than cure. Our parents always tried to instill this moral of not talking to strangers however kind or nice they seem to be.
In the case of nursery rhymes, they were like music to our ears. With interesting words and some lovely beats and music, singing these nursery rhymes was what defined our fun during our childhood.
Consider the case of “If your happy and you know it..” which is a nursery rhyme said to have derived from an ancient folk song. The words reflect the fact that many of us despite being happy deny that and therefore we need to look inwards to find happiness.
As small children, we may not have understood the meanings of each of the stories or rhymes in totality. But our exposure to them helped define the values we learned and the beliefs we had. They were also the source of our enjoyment and fun.
Times have changed. Years have passed by. But its really amazing the way these rhymes and bedtime stories continue to be read by generations. Cheers to our childhood which shaped our lives.
This post is a part of Kids Hut activity at BlogAdda.com
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