October 6, 2011

Babies Don't Keep

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
and out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
but I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.
- Ruth Hulburt Hamilton, Ladies Home Journal (1958)

(I need this tonight.)

3 comments:

  1. I swear you and I are on the same page tonight. My thoughts exactly!

    ReplyDelete
  2. No, babies do NOT wait so take this to heart EVERYDAY!!!!! And hey ... monthly birthdays are okay, too :-)!!!!! Enjoy that precious gift from GOD!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...