Midge Remembers

“Fiddle Dee Dee,” sang Midge as she skipped up the walkway to the porch where Jake was sitting in the swing. “Fiddle Dee Dee, the fly has married the bumblebee.”

“What are you singing?” laughed Jake.

“I heard my owner's sister singing that to her little boy,” said Midge. “Isn't it cute?”

“It is different,” smiled Jake. “The fly married a bumblebee. Now that is different.”

“Yes,” said Midge. “I think a lot of the little kids songs and fairy tales are different. But they are cute.”

“I never heard any of them,” said Jake.

“I heard a lot of them when my owner's sister came to stay with her little boy,” said Midge. “She would sing or read them to him at bed time. Sometimes in daytime too she would read him some of them before his nap time.”

“That's cool Midge,” said Jake. “Do you remember any of them?”

“Not too much,” said Midge. “I only remember parts of them.”

“Which ones do you remember?” asked Jake. “Maybe you can tell me some. They sound like fun.”

“One is called Tisket a Tasket,” said Midge. “It is about a basket that is green and yellow.”

“How does that go?” asked Jake.

“A Tisket A Tasket, a green and yellow basket,” sang Midge. “I wrote a letter to my love and on the way I dropped it.”

“What does the basket have to do with writing a letter?” asked Jake.

“I don't know,” said Midge. “I don't remember the rest of the little song.”

“Sounds strange,” said Jake.

“Yes, maybe,” said Midge. “I like the one she called, Bananas in Pajamas,”

“Bananas in Pajamas?” asked Jake. “Oh my. I can just picture Bananas wearing Pajamas. That is just too funny. How does that sound?”

“Let me see,” said Midge looking up and blinking her eyes. “Okay. Bananas in pajamas are coming down the stairs. Bananas in pajamas are coming down in pairs.”

“That's all you know?” asked Jake.

“I can't remember the rest of it,” said Midge.

“Oh, too bad,” said Jake.

“Why?” asked Midge.

“Because I would have loved to hear about the bananas wearing the pajamas. That is too funny.”

“I guess it is,” said Midge.

“What is too funny?” asked Booker-T as he hurried up the steps to the porch.

“Midge was telling me about some little songs for kids and some are pretty funny,” said Jake. “Like the bananas who are wearing pajamas.”

“What!” laughed Booker-T. “I never saw a banana with pajamas on. Is it a cartoon?”

“I don't know if they have a cartoon of it or not,” answered Midge. “I only heard the little song about it.”

“I sure would like to see the bananas in pajamas,” said Booker-T.

“Me too,” said Jake. “Is that all they are doing, coming down the stairs in pairs?”

“I think they are also chasing teddy bears,” said Midge.

“Oh my,” said Jake. “Little teddy bears better run fast.”

“Ha ha Jake,” said Midge. “She sings him about dogs, cats, elephants, spiders and a lot of other things. She sure knows a lot of stuff.”

“What does she sing about dogs?” asked Jake.

“Let me think a minute,” smiled Midge. “I know she had one she used to sing.”

“Does she sing about cats too Midge?” asked Booker-T.

“She has one about a cat and a mouse,” said Midge. “When the mouse hears the kitty coming, it runs away to hide. But I can't remember how that one goes. I only heard it once.”

“What about the dog Midge?” asked Jake.

“I think it is called My Dog,” said Midge. “It is about a dog who barks all day but all he says is Woof woof woof or bow wow wow.”

“Oh,” said Booker-T. “ I want to hear the stories. They sound like they are lot of fun.”

“They are cute,” said Midge. “But she don't sing them as much anymore now that her little boy is bigger.”

“I guess when they get bigger they don't care about hearing the little songs anymore,” said Booker-T.

“I don't think they do,” said Jake. “The only songs I hear from next door is a lot of screaming and yelling and they call it music. I like the music my owner plays. It is good music.”

“I know, my neighbor's fifteen year old girl plays some awful stuff she calls music,” said Booker-T. “And the language in their music is so bad. I don't like to listen to it. My owner complains when she plays it too loud.”

“I have a neighbor who plays that junk too,” said Midge. “I sure wish she wouldn't play it so loud. I don't like it.”

“I guess they have a right to listen to what they want to, but I don't like it either,” said Jake. “I heard my owner tell her brother that the music belongs in the garbage.”

“I think it does belong in the garbage,” said Booker-T. “I'd like to hear some more of your little songs if you can remember any more.”

“I will think about it,” said Midge. “Maybe more of them will pop into my head.”

“Okay,” said Booker-T. “Think think think Midge.”

“Ha ha ha,” said Midge.

“Hi you guys,” greeted Gabby as he flew down from the tree and landed on the porch railing. “What are you thinking about?”

“Midge knows a lot of funny kids songs,” said Booker-T.

“And we want to hear some more of them,” said Jake.

“I know a few of them,” said Gabby.

“How do you know them?” asked Jake.

“When mothers used to sing them to their kids when they were little, I used to sit on the trees outside their windows and I could hear them singing them,” said Gabby.

“Oh that is cool,” said Booker-T.

“Which ones do you remember Gabby?” asked Midge.

“I remember one that this one person used to sing and it was very long song,” said Gabby. “It was about all these bottles of soda on the wall.”

“About soda?” asked Jake with a puzzled look on his face.

“I remember that one,” said Midge. “I heard that one too and it is very long because it starts out with 99 bottles of the soda on the wall and they keep taking one of the bottles down and passing it around for everyone to drink til there was only one bottle left on the wall.”

“That would take a long time to finish all those bottles,” said Booker-T.

“Are we going to sit here and try to remember all the songs that we maybe heard, or are we going to go to the park to play?” asked Gabby.

“Oh, I forgot,” said Midge. “We are supposed to go meet Snappy and play in the pond this morning.”

“He will be wondering what happened to us,” said Jake. “We better go and we can talk about the little songs later.”

They all hurried to the park while they sang about the bottles of soda on the wall and laughed.