Give the dog a bone

Some of my students have heard the children's rhyme Incey-wincey spider, and wanted me to teach it to them. I told them I'd have to look up the words, because I couldn't remember how they went.

I was not enthusiastic about this. I never liked that rhyme when I was a child, but couldn't remember why. When I got home tonight and looked it up, though, I remembered. I didn't like it because it was sad and horrifying. Poor spider, doomed to an eternity of pointlessness, climbing up and getting washed down the spout over and over and over. What is it supposed to be about, anyway, this Sisyphusian rhyme? Is it SUPPOSED to instill a feeling of meaninglessness and doom in tiny children? Was it just me?

I found This Old Man far more satisfying. I particularly liked it that the old man came rolling home and the dog got a bone in EVERY SINGLE VERSE.

Maybe I'll teach that to my students instead.