to feel so sad that DD is discovering awful things about the world? From Rolf Harris?

[IHeartKingThistle]

It is silly, but I AM sad.

DD is 5.5. I always sing her a song at bedtime and for the last few nights she has asked for 'Two Little Boys'. For the life of me I can't remember how on earth she knows this song, but anyway. Lots of questions about soldiers, and battles, and war.

I have explained as clearly and gently as I can. She was not upset, just curious and interested.

But I feel sad. It feels like the beginning of her finding out how evil the world can be. I don't want her to know .

Is banning Rolf Harris the answer?

Stop dissing the Late, Great Rolf Harris (well, not late, but it had a nice ring to it together with great!) As well as such classics as Sun Arise, he is a brilliant artist (''Can you guess what it is yet?'') All round entertainer is Rolf. Don't make 'em like that any more!

Oh God Two Little Boys always makes me cry. And don't even get me started on Puff The Magic Dragon.

What were they trying to do to us 70s kids? I'm still traumatised.

We have our own special version of Three Blind Mice! It goes:

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run! See how they run!
They all run after the farmer's wife,
Who gives them a pat and a cheesy slice,
Did ever you see such a sight in your life
As three blind mice?

We had to come up with that because DS1 gets very, very upset about little animals getting hurt. He's quite happy for large animals to be slaughtered for his tea, but worms, slugs, snails and mice are sacrosanct for some reason.

I'm worried as DS 7 yo is quite a sensitive soul and the next school topic is WW2. Last yr they watched a horrible histories programme and he was upset for days.

A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys

I work in yr 6 and in line with remembrance day, we've spent a couple of wks looking at dulce et decorum est, it turns my stomach never mind the 10 yr olds.

Anonymumous,me too!! I was thinking oh bloody hell,not Rolf Harris too!!

Yanbu but you have the privilege of teaching her that for every negative there is a positive. When a bird dies, there is room for a new one to hatch into the world...etc etc boaky boak.

But you know what I mean.

Tess, the version in the book was this one, I think.

Three blind mice, three blind mice
See how they spin, see how they spin
They pin the tail on the kitty cat,
While wearing silly party hats.
Did you ever see such a silly sight,
As three blind mice.

Not nearly as interesting. Although good for the little boy who doesn't like cruelty to animals mentioned upthread. Sadly I think the chopping part of the song is my DS' favourite. He's two - sod all empathy for anyone, least of all mice.

I quite liked the version with the cheese slice though

Three visually impaired rodents, three visually impaired rodents
See how they play, see how the play
They play in an atmosphere of mutual support and respect with the farmer's long-term differently-gendered companion
Who chops up organic vegetables for them with a carving knife which she then returns to the block out of the reach of children
This is of course an entirely normal state of affairs and nothing worth commenting on
For three visually impaired rodents

Wallison

I fully expect that version to appear in my next edition of Approved Nursery Rhymes for Right-Minded Children, Wallison.

Perhaps I should offer my services to a right-on publisher. Someone got us a fuck-awful book of sanitised fairy tales one year which I've kept just because it was so bad. For eg the writer was at pains to point out that Goldilocks was being very naughty because she went into a house that belonged to someone else. And it was absolutely fine and dandy that the emporer went prancing around in the nuddy because he believed in himself and that's what's important, right, kids? (Er, no, and you have now completely missed the entire point of the story, which incidentally is just as relevant now as it was when it was written, you numpty.)

It's not just nursery rhymes you have to beware... when ds was three he noticed 'Free Nelson Mandela' playing on the radio and asked me 'Who is Nelson Mandela?'. How on earth do you describe apartheid to a 3yo? Can't remember what on earth I said but it was a bit of an early introduction to man's inhumanity to man and woman...

Wallison.

Although I once embarrassed myself when my friend's DD came to stay. I think she was about seven at the time. She was reading some history books of mine and said "how did the Holocaust work?"

I got very agitated about explaining it and said "oh, it was when times were really bad in Germany and the people had no money. So everyone got very angry and they decided anyone different was to blame. So they did a terrible thing and killed millions of Jews and Gypsies because they were different. They put them in big gas chambers, which was an awful thing to do. It was very sad and people still regret that it happened even today."

She looked at me and said "why did they put dead people in Roman baths?" It turned out she was reading a book I had on Romans and meant "hypercaust", as in the heating systems for Roman baths.

She was then very interested in the Holocaust and I had to drop her home to her parents with a long apology about her newfound interest in death during WWII....

But I feel sad. It feels like the beginning of her finding out how evil the world can be. I don't want her to know.

I feel the same and I always want to shield my daughters from all sad stuff, but I suppose another way of looking at it is that they are learning about this stuff in a secure and loving environment which a lot of kids don't have. So they are actually very lucky.

((hugs)) fuckwittery. So very sorry for your loss and your little DD's pain. It won't be much comfort right now but she may well regain some of that innocence though. My DD who is a year older than yours told me over a year ago when they were doing the Easter story that she didn't believe in god because why would god bring Jesus back from the dead but not all the little boys and girls who die of cancer. I thought that was it and that santa and the tooth fairy would follow quickly behind. Now she has decided she believes in them again and is often coming home from school saying religious things she has picked up there and is quite convinced, despite seeing her dear friend buried in the summer and hearing nothing of that sort at home. She is also very enthusiastic about santa and gets very excited about the tooth fairy too.

In our book of Fairy Tales the three little pigs all shack up in the house made of bricks, the wolf burns his bottom coming down the chimney and runs away never to be seen again.

I'm sure it was different when I was a girl. It's only the Gingerbread Man that still gets eaten.

Wait until you have to explain the Diary of Anne Frank, no way to cushion that blow.

wilsonfricket I just looked up the Going Home song you mentioned. That is completely heartbreaking but peaceful at the same time

here if you're brave enough!

There is such wonderful advice on this thread, I'm so glad I started it - thank you.

Interesting about all these sanitised nursery rhymes and fairy tales. I wonder if they're actually doing kids a disservice - how can they deal with real life bad stuff if the Three Blind Mice get to keep their tails?

Our first house was next to a funeral home and my boys would (at the age of 2-3) sit there and watch all the cars lining up and the coffin being put in
Great story times they were