Thursday, October 25, 2012

5th child

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 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, 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... by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton, in Lady's Home Journal. 1958.

2 comments:

  1. Love this poem! It's so true. Thx for sharing.

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  2. I've read this poem before and my favorite line is, "But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow." So true.

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