Odd

This is from today's Writer's Almanac (NPR).

It is the birthday of Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880). Born in 1802 in Medford, Massachusetts, to an abolitionist family, she published her first book at the age of 22. Her book of poems, Flowers for Children (1844-1846), included "A New England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day," which begins with the well-known lines: "Over the river and through the wood / To grandfather's house we go; / The horse knows the way / To carry the sleigh / Through the white and drifted snow."

Those lines are indeed familiar to me, with one curious difference - well, two; we always said "through the woods". But that's different; where I come from the only way you go "through the wood" is with a saw.

The main thing is, we always sang that as "grandmother's house". For what it's worth, there are over 54,000 hits for grandmother versus less than 3,000 (fewer than? That sounds so wrong) for grandfather. I wonder if there is some reason for the change, something cultural or psychological?