Jen, for you and you other mothers with little children

'Song for a Fifth Child'
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
[Notes by Grama Mission: It could also be for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th child or more.]

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.

[Concluding note from Grama Mission: Yes....it's true before the blink of an eye your little ones will grow up, graduate from high school, go to college, some go on missions, marry, have precious babies of their own. That is the Eternal Plan of a wise and loving Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother.]