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The Baby from “Rock-A-Bye Baby” is All Grown Up and Freaking Out About Having a Baby
Dr. Folklore’s Dating Advice for Mythical Folks (Number 70)
Origin Story: This famous lullaby first appeared in Mother Goose’s Melody (London circa 1765), and was republished in Boston around 1785. There are many theories about the meaning within the lyrics, but none of them have any proof. The National Literacy Trust listed the lyrics as such in 2021:
Rock a bye baby on the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.
Dear Dr. Folklore,
When I was a baby, my parents put me in an unstable cradle on the top of a tree, and the wind blew so hard it rocked the cradle and broke the bough, making me roll out, hitting the ground face first… needless to say, I’ve been traumatized ever since. I mean, seriously, babies are like jello, and that fall should’ve left me looking like Sloth from The Goonies.
With that, you can see why I’m freaked out my wife is two months pregnant — how am I supposed to set a good example when I had shitty parents!? All I think about is how I’ll be like my parents and make poor decisions like, oh I don’t know, putting my…
