Post the One-Thousand and Sixty-First - "Song for a Fifth Child"

[nestar]

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

Comments

[starhawk2005.livejournal.com]

I used to keep that poem by my computer when I was on maternity leave, to remind me to put Starbaby first. :)

[n-e-star.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking of making cards to give to my postpartum doula clients as a way to remind them it's okay to do nothing but baby gaze while I clean/cook/whatever.

[starhawk2005.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an excellent idea to me!