The Folklore Around Growing Up

I was thinking recently about one of the rhymes my friends and I used to say during hand-clapping games when I was in elementary school.

Miss Susie had a steamboat.
The steamboat had a bell.
Miss Susie went to heaven.
The steamboat went to...

Hello, operator,
Please give me number nine.
And if you disconnect me,
I'll kick you from...

Behind the 'frigerator,
There was a piece of glass.
Miss Susie sat upon it,
And broke her little...

Ask me no more questions.
I'll tell you no more lies.
The boys are in the bathroom,
Zipping up their...

Flies are in the meadow.
The bees are in the park.
I saw two people kissing,
In the D-A-R-K, D-A-R-K,
Dark, dark, dark!

Dark is like a movie.
A movie's like a show.
A show is like a TV.
I know, I know, I know.

I know I know my ma.
I know I know my pa.
I know I know my sister,
With the eighty meter bra!

First of all, notice how sound-reliant this is. "Naughty" words are implied at the end of most sections. We know what these words are thanks to the context and the expected rhyme. But then the next section begins with a word that sounds similar.

What I also think is interesting about this rhyme is that it reveals some of the curiosity children have about growing up. It is exciting just to see people kissing. Big sister wears a bra and would probably be embarrassed by the suggestion that it is eighty meters long. Or maybe it just seems that big compared to the training bra of a pre-teen.

This got me thinking about other child folklore that is specific to this transitional age. There is a joke I remember from my childhood that I've wondered whether I would hear from a student. Of course I haven't. It is too "dirty." I'm sure some of them know, if not this joke, one like it. But they aren't about to repeat it to a teacher. (Probably a good thing for them and for me).

An American traveling in a foreign country came to a city ruled by a king. The king had one daughter and no other children. He was very concerned with continuing his family line. So, he had decreed that whomever could get his daughter pregnant could marry her and become the next king.
The American thought he would give it a try. The king spoke some English and they were able to make the arrangements. The daughter did not speak English, but she understood what was going on, so the American figured that wouldn't be a problem.
He spent the night with the king's daughter. They started having sex and the young woman cried out, "Na-panly!" [The joke-teller makes up a foreign-sounding word.] The American didn't know what that meant, so he kept going. She cried out again, "Na-panly! Na-panly!"
In the morning the king asked the American how the night went. The American answered that everything seemed to be fine and he expected he would prove to be the next king. But, he did have one question. The king's daughter had repeatedly said, "Na-panly." He wondered what that meant.
The king gave the American a critical look and told him he would certainly not be the next king. "Na-panly" means "wrong hole."

As an adult, I find this joke fascinating. It relies entirely on an inexact knowledge of sex for it's humor. With the exception of those so mystified by the female anatomy they honestly believe someone could mistake one orifice for another, most adults realize this mistake simply doesn't happen. But a tween who knows just a little bit about sex could totally buy it.

Children who are on the cusp of growing up seem to create their own category of folklore that allows them to "talk" about slightly uncomfortable topics without really talking about them. They aren't getting good information this way, but maybe laughter is helping to ease their tension.