Yesterday I was sorting through the mail piled up on our dining room table. (Question: Am I the only one who fights a ridiculous losing battle with The Pile Of Crap On The Table? I swear, every 2 hours I’m cleaning stuff off of it.) In the pile, there was a catalog for children’s books, and on the cover was a little girl holding a few books. The titles were only just barely visible, but one of them caught my eye. It said ‘Tikki Tikki Tembo‘.
Suddenly something in my brain *dinged* (What? Your brain doesn’t do that?) and *whooshed* back 20+ years and recalled the rest of that phrase: Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo. WOW. The fact that I could remember that after seriously 20 years of it hiding deep in the recesses of my mind was a little weird. And Dan thought so too because when I said it out loud, he looked at me like I had three heads.
I couldn’t remember much about the story until I read the Wiki (does EVERYTHING have a Wiki these days? Geez.) but then slowly it came back to me. A little boy had a really long name, his little brother had a short, insignificant name, and Tikki Tikki (oh please don’t make me type all the rest of that name!) falls down a well. Because his name is so long, when his little brother tries to tell the grown ups in the story about his brother’s fall, it takes them a while to rescue him. Finally they do, and he’s okay (after 12 full moons!) but from then on, all the parents decide to keep their kids’ names short and simple. Ya know, just in case.
Not a super-fantastic, epic story (and a little scary for a little kid if you think about it. I mean, my parents could have accidentally given me a crazy-long name and I could have almost died because of it? YIKES.) but because of the silly, rhythmic name, I remembered it for over twenty years. Makes me think about what Maggie might remember in a big *WHOOSH* all of a sudden 20 years from now. We’d better watch what we say and do!
The other side of this story is the sadness when I realized that inside the catalog under the information for the book Tikki Tikki Tembo, they called it a ‘Classic from 30 years ago!’ Which translates to: JEN, YOU ARE OLD. THIS BOOK HAS BEEN AROUND ABOUT AS LONG AS YOU HAVE, AND NOW IT’S CONSIDERED A CLASSIC!
More posts like this:
- he’s such a jokester June 4, 2007
- if this isn’t blog-worthy, I don’t know what is March 22, 2008
- night of misery April 9, 2006
- progress… sort of. August 3, 2007
- selfish February 20, 2006
That’s like when I realized they were playing Stone Temple Pilots on the CLASSIC ROCK station.
But you see, those of us who know and love you already know that you’re a classic! Haha! (And I wish you’d quit saying you are old, because what does that make me?! )
oh your mom is so silly! She is definitely NOT old! I remember that phrase but I think I always said it wrong!!!
I absolutely loved that story, horrifying as it is now viewed though my adult jaded eyes. I actually searched for that pre-google and could not find any info. I’m so grateful for wiki sometimes.
kiridas last blog post: vampires and other updates
@mom: um… REALLY OLD???!! LOL
I’ve got 10 years on, so here’s what I know:
The Pile never gets smaller no matter how hard you try.
Soon, you’ll be hearing yourself say, “when I was your age, we …’
Don’t worry, the ride downhill can still be fun. Cheers!
always home and uncools last blog post: My Son, The Monkey Boy
Wow, I have never heard of that book! I sat and watched it on You tube, with great intrest! Are you going to get it for Maggie? I think I might check for it on Amazon!!
@Nichole: nah, who needs a book when you can just watch it on YouTube? LOL just kidding ;) Yeah I might see if I can find it somewhere!
Wow I forgot about that book!
I must be old also.
I remember hearing that story when I was a kid… but I couldn’t ever remember what it was called! I kept looking for it to read it again, but I was confusing the title with “Rikki Tikki Tavi” which is an entirely different story!
Nickis last blog post: Painting With the Sun!
I’m glad I’m not the only one with the mysteriously forever-renewing Pile Of Crap On The Table… heh.
I don’t remember that book–although I do remember “Rikki Tikki Tavi” that Nicki just mentioned above. Still, though, can you believe stuff from our childhood is already “classic”? Aren’t we still kids ourselves? ;)
Thank you! I LOVED tikki-tikki-tembo. I got a great kick out of watching that video (and forcing my kids to too!) Makes me think of all my other favorites. Chicken Soup with Rice anyone?
Lelas last blog post: How Not to Be a Jerk With Kids in Public
One of my all time favorite childhood books :)
ssfbs last blog post: and PS
Now I have that stuck in my head. THANKS A LOT.
:-)
samantha jo campens last blog post: Exhale