Babies Don't Keep

The last two Saturdays Dave and I have been busy baking and cooking for Christmas when our entire family will be together again for the first time in two years. You see, when our children were young there was a poem that I lived my life by and now that I am a grandmother, I often think of the words of that poem....I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

I decided to look up the poem since I couldn't remember all of the words and share them with you today.

Babies Don’t Keep
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

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. 

So we are getting ready for the time when we have all of our grandchildren in one place. And for a little while
....the cleaning and scrubbing will wait
because we have indeed learned that children grow up as we've learned to our sorrow,
so quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep(or maybe we will just write in it instead)
we'll be rocking our babies and babies don't keep!!