My mom had such a way of introducing my brothers and me to rhythm, rhyme and meter. They were a gift she passed on to us, generously.
There were a few times however, that even at my very young age, I questioned her. Was she speaking generically or pointedly; to me?
As a young girl, I had baby fine hair that tangled every night in my sleep. Every morning as she combed out the mess of my hair she gave me a rather brusque picture of what had happen during the night.
“The rats had a party in your hair last night.”
Wait. There are rats in my bedroom? (Such a horrifying concept.)
“Yes. It seems as if they had a grand time, too. Be still while I carefully detangle you.”
Mortified I sat very still waiting for the removal of all the ‘rats.’
As she worked gently on my hair, she would quote:
There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the center of her forehead
And when she was good she was very, very good,
but when she was bad she was horrid. (Public Domain)
My sweet, lovely mother; was she suggesting something about me?
Curious.
The tables are turned now and I find myself manhandling my 90 year-old mother’s hard to tame hair.
She will jerk and squiggle in her chair as I calmly quote,
“There was a little girl
Who had a little curl,
Right in the center of her forehead…”
My mom finishes the quote and we giggle like little girls.
“And when she was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad, she was horrid.”
My mother then looks up at me sheepishly. I look back at her in the mirror with the perfect ‘Mother-Taught-Look’ on my face, because IT IS, just a silly little rhyme, right?
Such a fun rebounding shared memory we have.