Honk-Shoo and other Childhoodisms



The other day, I held out a choice of 2 lollipops for Noah, and do you know what he said?  "Eenie, meenie, meinie, moe, catch a tiger by the toe..." I'll bet nine out of ten of you could finish that for me!

I am astounded at the sameness of childhood.  I find that things I thought I made up might just be universal to all children.  I grew up in the North in the 1980's, and my 5-year-old of 2013 lives in Florida, yet when I catch Noah pretending one of his imaginary characters is asleep, he does the same "honk-shoo" sound I used to make to imitate snoring (which doesn't sound like actual snoring, by the way).  And I never taught him that.

And how do children everywhere know the jump-rope chant, "Bubblegum, bubblegum in a dish; how many pieces do you wish? 1, 2, 3..." or "Cinderella, dressed in yella went upstairs to kiss her fella.  By mistake she kissed a snake; how many doctors will it take? 1, 2, 3... "  I don't know, but just the other day I heard children here on a Jacksonville playground chanting my jump-rope rhymes.  It made me want to get out of the car and jump into their game like I used to do when I was eight on a playground in Pennsylvania.

I could go on, but as usual I am out of time for now.  So I leave you with this:  Do you know what "criss-cross applesauce" means?  Because Noah does, and I'll bet you do too!



P.S.  I was able to buy a new camera this week, so be looking for the return of my 365 Project on Tuesday!


Comments

cj and family said…
I SO prefer "criss-cross applesauce" over "Indian-style"--I learned it from my kids' teachers at school. ;)
April 18, 2013 at 1:03 PM
Ruth said…
I only learned criss-cross applesauce a few years ago (when I was observing student teachers). One year the photographer got really frustrated with Nadia because she didn't know what it meant.
April 18, 2013 at 5:21 PM
Ruth said…
How about picking dandelions and giving them to your mother? It seems to be in kids' DNA to do that without seeing anyone else do it.
April 20, 2013 at 5:58 PM
Joanna said…
Good one, Ruth! So true.
April 21, 2013 at 10:51 AM
Unknown said…
Hi there! So, I googled "honkshoo" because my son says it when he is pretending to fall asleep. I thought he made it up! His name is Noah, by the way! And my name is Joanne. :)
I really don't believe in coincidences.. I believe that God places people in our lives for reasons, so I felt compelled to write! My husband and I were married in 2000 and also had infertility issues for years. Well, in case you're interested (and I won't be offended if you're not), here's some of my story: http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/f/faith525/
May 2, 2014 at 5:28 PM
Unknown said…
Hi there! So, I googled "honkshoo" because my son says it when he is pretending to fall asleep. I thought he made it up! His name is Noah, by the way! And my name is Joanne. :)
I really don't believe in coincidences.. I believe that God places people in our lives for reasons, so I felt compelled to write! My husband and I were married in 2000 and also had infertility issues for years. Well, in case you're interested (and I won't be offended if you're not), here's some of my story: http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/f/faith525/
May 2, 2014 at 5:30 PM
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