Baa Baa jacob, have you any wool?

[Levanna]

I caught the end of a creche session my DD's attend a couple of weeks ago. They were singing songs and came to 'baa baa black sheep'.

Each time the children got to the word prior to sheep, one of the creche workers bellowed out, over the children 'WHITE SHEEP', cue confuzzled glances from most of the children (3 years and under) and on they went with the song until, hindered by the lady's bellowing, eventually it fizzled out.

I'm not sure why she chose to approach it in this manner, it was shoddy behaviour, IMO, not least of all because some of the children were interchanging sheep colour.

How would you have handled it?

I beleive children deserve to be conveyed the respect of explanation and that if the lady felt this strongly, that she should have offered one.

OTOH, aren't under 4's a bit young to have to take such issues on board? Or aren't they? Or how to broach it? Or why can't the darn sheep just be called Jacob to negate disagreement? I'm not being flippant BTW, just aware that many would prefer the rhyme to be something other than 'black sheep' but also aware that a lot of young youngsters still know it as this.

I ought to clarify that I've always sung 'black' sheep with my children, not believing it to have any racist referance, as there just isn't in the sheep world! We do sing 'little girl who lives down the lane' more often than not though .

Good grief. I am brown myself ( Indian) and I have long since given up taking offence at inconsequential nursery rhymes, the sale of hot cross buns, people asking me if I have a Christian name ( though I am not Christian) And sheep don't have race, anyway. There are more important things to worry about.

My children san baa baa black sheep and then added another verse of Baa baa white sheep, which I thought a very neat and charming compromise to this little bit of PC sillyness

I would use Jacob, it doesn't scan

sorry wouldn't use Jacob

Words I use in baby music classes

baa baa black sheep etc.
little boy who lived down the lane

baa baa white sheep etc.
little girl who lived down the lane

thank you said the master
thank you said the dame
thank you said the boy and girl who lived down
the lane.

I couldn't give a rats bottom about being PC, it's just it makes the song a bit longer and means I can use 2 finger puppets!

the secon verse mine used was

baa baa white sheep have you any wool

No sir, no sir, no bags full,
None to mend the blankets and none to mend the frocks
And none to mend the little boy's holes in his socks

If you want to extend the song a little more bobby

I like you more and more each day!

MB, what's wrong with 'Jacob'?!

TBH, I think most nursery rhymes are quite vile, what with goosey gander throwing someone down the stairs, the old woman in the shoe whipping her children before bed, ladybird ladybird's house fire, Dapple Gray being whipped and slashed, not to mention rock a bye baby suffering a horrendous accdent (though why anyone would stick a cradle in a tree, I just don't know).

If any of them are ever likely to be taken seriously, it doesn't say much for society! IMO, BaaBaa Black sheep sounds totally harmless, by comparison.

yes, some nursery rhymes are astoundingly grisly (It's raining it's pouring - head injury)(Sing a song of sixpence - nose amputation) and (Ring a Roses - plague).

I like the 2nd verse as white sheep idea to balance it out.

We change Goosey Gander to stop DS throwing things down the stairs but other than that, unless a rhyme was constructed to be offensive in the first place, I wouldnt dream of chaging it. If you dont like it, dont use it.

Whenever I read fairy stories I have to edit them for dd1

Snow White - mum died, nasty stepmum wants her dead

Hansel & Gretel - meany stepmum ditto, child eating witch shoving them in ovens

etc etc

They end up very short stories!

OO, I do that too!

Ditto Cinderella with her 'wicked' step family.