Song for a Fifth Child
Mother, O' Mother, come shake out your cloth,
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,
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 his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby 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.
~ Ruth Hulbert Hamilton
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Related Reading on the Babywearing Resources Page
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Love it :*) <3
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing this on the bulletin board of the hospital when my daughter was born. That was almost seven years ago. I still love it. And yes, "But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow." Too true.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a post and linked to this poem just yesterday. The more mobile and busy my little guy gets, the more I'm cherishing the quiet times with him!
ReplyDeleteThank you! The last section was on a framed embroidered wall hanging in my dearly loved grandmother's house. She passed away years ago and I often thought of that saying while rocking *my* babies to sleep these past three years. I never knew the author or that there was more to it...thank you for posting this!
ReplyDeleteThis may be my favorite poem ever. I'm not even sure I've ever read the entire thing.
ReplyDeleteI agree this is my favorite poem of all time! I just love love it!
ReplyDeleteI love this poem. It is so true. Thank you for Sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow - my mom had a needlepoint with the last two lines of the poem in our house, and I had forgotten about it! Reading it now as an adult and parent it sends (happy) shivers down my spine :)
ReplyDeleteEvery Mom and Dad should read this poem. It is so very true. Now that I am a Grandma, I plan to spoil my little ones with tons and tons of hugs, kisses and fun times. I am Blessed!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteits funny that you posted this now..when i came home from the hospital with my newborn 7 weeks ago all i have been doing is cleaning and organising and doing everything to have the perfect home and be a perfect wife and mother (i also have a 2 and 4 yr old)..last week i looked at my pixie (the newborn) and all of a sudden she was huge!! i felt like i missed her being new :( im pretty sure it happened somewhere being mopping the floor and doing the washing..i almost cryed..the poem is amazing :) thank you
ReplyDeleteThis is just gorgeous. As a mom with 3 babies who never slept well - I neglected many a chore because of this heartfelt truth, that they would grow. So so true and written so well. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMy mom had the last paragraph of this on her fridge while was growing up, and now it's one of my favorite sayings too (and you can definitely tell by my house -- and by my kids). Mom's been gone for 2 1/2 years now, but her outlook lives on.
ReplyDeleteThe title of this is "Song For A Fifth Child" I have always loved this poem :)
ReplyDeleteAs true as these words are, and as vital as the concept is to parenting, rocking babies at the expense of cleaning cobwebs and dust bunnies is HARD! Social pressure and "medical wisdom" push us to ignore that our babies don't keep and to parent for our own concenience. Dust and cobwebs can wait. Babies, and the adults they will become, won't.
ReplyDeleteMy four wore their cousins' 'hand me downs' and we lived cheaply because I chose to stay at home with them. My house was only ever clean when visitors came! I regret many things but not this. I knew deep down that it was a precious time and would not come around again. I see my daughter doing the same with her baby and it feels lovely!
ReplyDeleteAS an aged mother, tdhe time spent with a child is so precious when one has to cut tha apron strings and see them on their way through out their lives and remember each day how precious it was. Meqoo1@windstream.net.
ReplyDeleteI had the cross-stitch pattern for this at one time
ReplyDeleteLovely. Thank you for posting. I always include this poem in cards for new/expectant moms. And it makes me feel better about the floors around here ;-0
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