I’ve been thinking about all the rambling I’ve done so far this year and I keep landing at this children’s song, “There’s a Hole in the Bucket.” Be glad I haven’t been thinking about small worlds. Enough said. Anyway, the lyrics following my rambling this week. So you can sing about my meanderings for far too long! Enjoy.
Poor Liza and Poor Henry with the hole in their bucket. And still we expect them to be successful and end with the ever popular answer after 10 problems, we fall back on use your head. I think we might do this in my field of work too. I remember being on my learning journey for our Breaking the Cycle of Poverty project years ago and seeing a list of 12 things, the single mother of twins had to do that day, including AA, NA, Al-Anon, parenting and more, ending with get a job. How in the world was that going to happen? Use her head. I don’t think so. I think she used her head to get through her day with twins, attend meetings and ultimately she got a job that gave her promotions. There were still lots of holes in her bucket.
I think about what would happen to me if my house burned down. (Please don’t.) What would I do? I’d have plenty of places to go. There’d be a giant hole in my bucket though.
My fascination in life has always been what do you know, who taught you and when did you learn. I was talking about success last night with an amazing college student I know. She was relating a story that success meant money and a job to someone she admires. I thought success meant happy. She talked about needing an adulting class. I immediately thought there’d be holes in the bucket. Because someone who was taught by someone at some point would be sharing what they know. And that teacher may think success means happy or secure or wealthy or ok. And then what. I leave you with this song to sing and thoughts about where do you see holes in our bucket.
United Way is about ready to do our once every two years applications review, site visits, panel training and decision-making. If you’re interested, email me at deeanne@unitedwayofjacksoncounty.org. We’d love to have you, even if you sing this song…
“There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.
Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, mend it.
With what shall I mend it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I mend it, dear Liza, with what?
With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with a straw.
The straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long,
Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it.
With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, with what?
With a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, with an knife.
The knife is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The knife is too dull, dear Liza, too dull.
Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, sharpen it.
On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, on what?
On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, a stone.
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.
Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.
With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, with what?
Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, water.
In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, in what?
In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, a bucket.
There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.”
Use your head, then! dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use your head, then! dear Henry, dear Henry, use your head!
Cheerio,
Dee Anne
