When my 93-year-old Nana died, I received this picture that she'd made. I'm moving it from my bedroom to my living room. I need the reminder. My house is seriously trashed, but I need to keep my priorities straight.
Thanks to the person on the Holt forum who posted the rest of the poem. I didn't know there was more...
Babies Don't Keep
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye 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 his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.
The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But 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.
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1 comment:
Oh, my mom would have loved this! She and her MIL had a 25 year misunderstanding about what mom's priorities should be. Her response was a consistent, "I'm not a housewife, I'm a mom."
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