I am ever conscious of the need to maintain a dignified grandfatherly presence in order to offer an example of how seriously life must be taken, and to instil culture and education in my grandchildren. An example may be drawn from a typical scene in the car, travelling home after little J and I have collected young R from playschool.
Me *sings*:
‘Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream …’
J (gleefully):
‘Row-row-row-row-row!’
R *sings*:
‘If you see a crocodile …’
J beams, and she and I both take in deep breaths.
R:
‘Don’t forget to scream!’
Me:
‘AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!’
J & R:
‘EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!’ (Think incredibly high-pitched, here.)
R got the above adaptation of the song from school. However she and I have developed it further, and the verses we go on with are as follows:
Row, row, row your boat …
… Gently down the brook,
If a ghost is lurking there,
Don’t forget to spook!
… Gently down the river,
If you see piranha fish,
Don’t forget to shiver!
… Gently down the dam,
If you see a hippo there,
Don’t forget to scram!
… Gently down the lake,
If you see a monster there,
Don’t forget to quake!
… Gently on the sea,
If you see a great white shark …
Quickly climb a tree!
All verses are accompanied by suitable miming – restricted, in my case, to what is possible while giving due attention to driving.
Are you not filled with admiration at such dedication to culture and the higher things? Especially the screams: those definitely are! So much healthier to entertain them with high screams rather than ice creams, not so?
(Don’t forget to vote in the Caption Competition below!)
© Colonialist March 2013 (WordPress)
I dont know who is the most fortunate.
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Ahhhhh, toooo cute!
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They are going to have nightmares 😀
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Or maybe just never venture anywhere near a rowboat! 🙂
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There is nothing like the company of children to keep one young and lighthearted
Your girls are beautiful!
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Better than tonics!
They really are cutie-pies.
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I agree
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Great times! They are lucky to have you!
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I feel privileged to have THEM!
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I think you need a larger cage for those two …grin
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Oh, hooray – the comment is back. I approved it, and then it vanished. I found it again by using the ‘back’ function, and at that point a power dip came …
Now I found it again in the unapproved section. Computers are scary, sometimes. In fact, quite often.
We do actually have a bigger cage for them. That one is for the school bunnies! 🙂
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Your grandkids must love you. They will have those memories in their minds long after they have stopped singing those verses with you. Such fun.
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I hope they do, and I’ll certainly keep those memories very fondly, too.
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Grandkids are fun. I’m enjoying mine emensely
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It is super to have them available to enjoy, and not in a different hemisphere as half of mine are.
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You’re mirroring my happiest moments in life…the ones I remember with my own grandparents, and now with my own two granddaughters. You’ve made me smile!
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It is the way one would hope grandparents would be remembered. Mine were terribly Victorian and intimidating.
Today’s journey was occupied with speculation by R regarding the insults to sister and praise of herself a pet parrot would be trained to utter – if she had a pet parrot. ‘J is a nana; R is gorgeous!’ gives one sample.
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AnElephantCant believe it
Colonialist has shattered his dream
The bestest of fun
With his grandson
Is his weekly helping of ice cream
http://anelephantcant.me/2012/09/04/i-scream-ice-cream/
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Now that you’ve mastered “Row, Row, Row your Boat,” it’s time to tackle a few more songs, like “The wheels on the bus go round and round” or “The Horse in Striped Pajamas.” 😀
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Perhaps the level of complexity on those is too high for us at present. 🙂
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Love the pic of your two little ‘angels’. 🙂 It’s odd that you should post about this song, as the other day, on the tube train, there was a mom and her two little children, playing the same game with that song, accompanied by ear-splitting screeches of glee and gales of laughter. The whole carriage was enrapt. 😀
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Aww… what a great memory 🙂 They’ll have that forever. Maybe you should get some of these sing-alongs on tape? They are both so precious!
Dignified…? I think they prefer FUN grandfather over boring, serious Grandfather, as is evident from the high pitch squeal.
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You remind me of my father – he also always used to do these things with my boys when they were small 😉
It’s good to laugh and play with them – you need it as much as they do 😉
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Lucky you with the grandies on your doorstep, ours are 18 hour by jet away.
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Btw.. meant to say, the girls are absolutely delicious. Gorgeous munchkins!
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Col, it’s so good to find a grandpa who’s as good as I am a granny LOL. Seriously you are a treat!. I just love your version(s). Will have to learn them to sing over Skype this week. :). Thanks for sharing.
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Don’t forget the actions. Particularly climbing the tree, screaming! 🙂
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You are a wonderful grandfather!
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What a great Grand father you are .. I’m still getting mine to pull my finger…
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I’m not a great grandfather yet! 🙂 Give the eldest a few years, though …
Talking about fingers, J drags me all over the place holding mine in a tight grasp.
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As a “great” grand father I meant “great” as “Of major significance or importance” not of issue… a good man your are, I meant…
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I did get that, but couldn’t resist picking it up. And thanks for the compliment!
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Damn caught out again… what am I the only Great Grand Father around here..??
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You are a genuine Great already? Wow! *impressed*
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Ja bloody kids that start early in life…
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🙂
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