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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to complain about Wheels on the Bus?

250 replies

Downwiththatsortofthing252 · 11/10/2018 18:59

I really don't want to be that parent but...

My DS who is 2 and a half is singing the wheels on the bus with the lyrics 'the mummies on the bus go chatter chatter chatter... etc' and then after that 'the daddies on the bus go stop that noise... etc'

He's picked it up from nursery, who I didn't think would teach these lyrics, they're normally really good and on the ball with things. I hate the stereotype the lyrics are projecting that mummies are silly and daddies are impatient.

I know there's another version with the mummies saying I love you, WIBU to ask nursery to change what they teach?

OP posts:
141mum · 12/10/2018 23:49

Yes....... get a bloody life.... FFS.........it’s a song.......unless you block his ears for life,he will hear a lot worse

Disquieted1 · 12/10/2018 23:54

"The drunk on the bus always sits next to me, sits next to me, sits next to me..."

ScreamingValenta · 13/10/2018 00:01

"The Greggs pasty on the bus flakes all over the seats, over the seats, over the seats"

safariboot · 13/10/2018 00:13

You could always teach your DD this version instead.

VioletCharlotte · 13/10/2018 00:19

In the version I know it's the children on the bus who chatter. Babies go Waaaah. Mummies ssshhh. No Daddies on the bus. Presumably they're at work. Which is even more sexist!

TheVanguardSix · 13/10/2018 00:25

8 pages?! 8 pages in a handful of hours?! Forget the bus! The mummies on MN go chatter chatter chatter. Confused

Yeahmum · 13/10/2018 02:59

Has Mumsnet had a lobotomy? Of course YANBU.

erinaceus · 13/10/2018 04:25

@Nettled I like it!

OP - YANBU. I would modernise the lyrics. For me, humour goes a long way in coping with this type of thing.

(Did you see ? Cheered me right up in the face of the sexism I feel steeped in.)

Duskqueen · 13/10/2018 05:12

I thought it was 'the daddies on the bus go nod nod nod meaning they sleep, that's the version we always sing.

Booie09 · 13/10/2018 05:30

Never heard your version before....dud you just make it up OP to cause a argument?

The wheels on the bus go round and round,
round and round,
round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
all through the town.
(Roll hands around each other)

The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish;
Swish, swish, swish;
Swish, swish, swish.
The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish,
all through the town.
("Swish" hands in front of you like windshield wipers)

The horn on the bus goes Beep, beep, beep;
Beep, beep, beep;
Beep, beep, beep.
The horn on the bus goes Beep, beep, beep,
all through the town.
(Slap palm in front of you like honking a horn)

The doors on the bus go open and shut;
Open and shut;
Open and shut.
The doors on the bus go open and shut;
all through the town.
(Push hands back and forth in front of you)

The Driver on the bus says "Move on back,
move on back, move on back;"
The Driver on the bus says "Move on back",
all through the town.
(Point thumb over your shoulder)

The babies on the bus says "Wah, wah, wah;
Wah, wah, wah;
Wah, wah, wah".
The babies on the bus says "Wah, wah, wah",
all through the town.
(Rub fists in front of eyes)

The mommies on the bus says "Shush, shush, shush;
Shush, shush, shush;
Shush, shush, shush."
The mommies on the bus says "Shush, shush, shush"
all through the town.
(Hold index finger in front of mouth as if saying shhh)

Booie09 · 13/10/2018 05:39

I bet mother/father/grandparents/toddler groups Are a barrel of laughs with these lot getting offended by nursery rhymes!!

strawberrisc · 13/10/2018 05:42

Mary had a Little Lamb
You’ve heard this tale before
But did you know she passed her plate
And had a little more

strawberrisc · 13/10/2018 05:44

Mary had a little skirt
With slits right up the sides
And everytime she crossed her legs
The boys could see her thighs

Mary had another skirt
With a slit right up the front
She didn’t wear it often.

bertielab · 13/10/2018 06:49

Make your own up

wanderings · 13/10/2018 07:07

What about this skipping rhyme?

Down by the river, down by the sea,
Johnny broke a bottle and blamed it on me.
I told ma, ma told pa,
Johnny got a spanking so ha ha ha.
How many smacks did Johnny get?
1, 2, 3, etc.

Is "pa" always the family authoritarian? Shocking. And why are naughty little boys always called "Johnny"?

EssentialHummus · 13/10/2018 07:10

I get it, OP. Interestingly our group has dispensed with the grannies on the bus going knit knit knit, because the two ladies who run it are grannies in their 70s and 80s, and not keen on being identified as knitters. And a third lady has Old McDonald as a woman, which I quite like.

Upsy1981 · 13/10/2018 07:13

I really don't take that to be sexist. In the version I always remember, the daddies go snore snore snore while the mummies either chatter or sshh the babies. Either way, I thought that was rather disparaging to men who were portrayed as being rather useless! I really don't see chat as a derogatory verb. You get a group of women together and they do tend to chat, fact. Chatting is not bad, in fact its rather enjoyable. They could be chatting about Brexit or climate change or whatever...who knows?

greyallover · 13/10/2018 07:15

Our driver says "tickets please" the mummies "chatter chatter chatter" and the dads "snore snore snore" not heard your version op.

Instacrumb · 13/10/2018 07:43

Do mums not chatter on the bus then? What's offensive about chatting? If you're offended by mums chatting maybe mumsnet isn't for you

strawberrisc · 13/10/2018 08:16

Oh stop the world. I want to get off.

Greenandcabbagelooking · 13/10/2018 08:26

The real question is do the wheels on your bus go "all day long" or "all though the town"? I sing the latter, but I'm normal outnumbered by the former!

MissusGeneHunt · 13/10/2018 08:39

@Upsy1981 I'm with you. What if the mums were discussing their post graduate degrees? The state of the nation? The recent Banksy stunt?

Discussions, books read, and behaviour at home shape children's minds. Not nursery rhymes, IMHO. All the traditional ones were done at DS's nursery, and he can't even remember them!

woollytights · 13/10/2018 08:58

Perhaps you ought to complain about the horn line too. Looks to support violations of the Highway Code, beeping for no reason Angry

BertrandRussell · 13/10/2018 09:05

I agree with you, OP. But the professionally unoffended always have a lovely time displaying their underthinking skills on subjects like this! Grin

letallthechildrenboogie · 13/10/2018 09:10

There's something inane implied through the word 'chatter' though. 'The mummies on the bus discuss the headlines in The Guardian, the headlines in The Guardian....' still suggests conversation, but with a much more positive slant. Not that I'm suggesting changing the lyrics to that, just responding to this idea that it's all just fine. Likewise, we're atheists and I always append 'Which isn't very nice' to the end of Goosey Goosey, when the old man not saying his prayers is thrown downstairs. My daughter also asked me what happened to Jill in the nursery rhyme. We all know Jack went home to mend his head, but apparently no-one gives a monkeys what happened to Jill. Why doesn't that surprise me.....