Everyone seeks out wisdom from many different sources during a lifetime. Sometimes we get wisdom from our parents, our teachers, our Bibles, our friends, a minister, a therapist, or even self help books. Over my past 30 years as a music teacher, I have gained a lot of wisdom from the sources listed in the previous sentence, but I’ve also learned a lot from children’s songs!  Here’s the list!

 

 

• If You’re Happy and You Know It.  You’ve known this song since preschool, but do you really get the message?  It says, “If you’re happy and you know it then your face will surely show it.” Did you catch that? YOUR FACE WILL SURELY SHOW IT!!! People, please, please, please put a smile on your faces once in a while. I can’t tell you how tired I am of seeing grouchy people walking around. I know everyone is NOT miserable, but nobody is telling their face that they are happy! When I make eye contact with someone, I smile….. even when I feel grumpy. I know this sounds crazy, but I even pass people at church and work, who know me well, and they don’t make eye contact and they don’t smile. Let’s change that. If you’re happy and you know it then your face will surely show it.  SMILE!!!!

 

 

 

• The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Everyone knows the Itsy Bitsy Spider. He’s the guy that was climbing up the waterspout and a poorly timed rain storm came through and washed him to the bottom.  Do you remember what he did after the storm? Yes! He went up the spout again!  The lesson? Life is going to bring you many rain storms that will set you back a mile. Don’t quit. When the storm is over, get up and get going up the spout again. That spider didn’t curse the storm. He didn’t blame the spout for his problems. He didn’t say, “I cam from a bad water spout environment and I can’t climb out.” He simply got up and got his eight little legs walking again. Have the perseverance of the Itsy Bitsy Spider.

 

 

1. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. That star sure looks like a diamond up there! How I wonder what you are! The message of this song is to slow down long enough to look up or to look around and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation around you. Check out the next full moon.  Teachers hate full moons because they make the students go crazy, but if you gaze up in the sky at one of those things, you will be in awe of how gorgeous the moon is and it is simply reflecting the sun’s light! It’s amazing! Look at your mountains. Look at your snow. Look at your sandy beaches. Be in awe of that massively strong ocean that throws its waves at the shore. Take time to admire the world around you. It will lift your spirits and help you feel more gratitude and joy!

 

 

• I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.  The lady in this song is a maniac. She begins by swallowing a fly. Then she says, “Why did I eat that thing? Now I need to swallow a spider to get it.” But after the spider is swallowed, the lady has more regrets and swallows a bird to get it. It doesn’t end there, you know. She has to swallow a cat, a dog, a cow, and a horse….and then BOOM….she explodes and dies.  Wait, what?! That’s crazy. There’s a couple lessons her. Number one, don’t eat food until you explode. I can’t even imagine how many weight watchers points she consumed in that song. Food won’t fix your problems, so don’t eat until you explode. Lesson two, don’t bite off more than you can chew. When your life is busy and you are feeling frantic trying to keep up, make sure you are strong enough to say NO to people who come to pile jobs on your plate. Look out for yourself and your family. You don’t have to take on every volunteer opportunity that comes your way. You don’t have to be on every committee at work. You don’t have to fill every waking moment of your day with tasks. The Old Lady shows us that taking on too much will cause us to explode emotionally, mentally, or even physically.  Slow down and enjoy some quiet times.

 

 

 

• The Farmer In the Dell. Do you remember singing about the old farmer? He is a very smart guy. He chose to take his wife in the song. Then, in turn, the wife took the nurse, the nurse chose the child, the child grabbed the dog, the dog wanted the cat and the cat chose the rat. At the end of this old song we find the cheese standing alone. (It must have been some kind of stinky cheese.) Are you wondering what gem we can learn from this song? Here it is….choose the people that you keep in your life carefully. Decide who you will keep close to you and decide who the stinky cheese people are in your life! I’ll go a step further. Keep those special people close to you and SPEND TIME WITH THEM. Those great people in your life are the ones that bring you joy and love doing life with you, so make time for them and keep them close. Be sure that you are aware of the stinky cheese people in your life, too. Keep their drama and their negativity at arms length. Know when to cut ties completely, too. I believe we are called to serve one another and to comfort and encourage one another, but we’ve all had extreme cases where a person was just too toxic to stay around. Be aware and be wise about it. Keeping loved ones close and “stinky cheeses” far, will keep you healthy and happy, just like the Farmer in the Dell.

 

 

There you have it. Wisdom from children’s songs and a 30 year veteran music teacher. I hope at least one of these songs made you stop and think today! If nothing else, I hope something made you laugh! Maybe I’ll even get to see a few more smiles out in public!

 

Listfully yours,

 

Vicki