Sunday, March 1, 2009

Babies don't keep


Song for a Fifth Child.

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton.
Written in 1958 and first published in the Ladies Home Journal


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.

1 comment:

Laurel said...

Thanks for visiting my blog today. I look forward to reading more of yours.

Love the "tent school". While we do use some workbooks, much of our schooling is "hands-on learning". I love "field trip days", when we just pack a picnic and head out to the beach, the zoo, the park, etc...

Many blessings,

Laurel :)
mama of 13
homeschooling for 18 years,
with 11 more to go