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, rockabye, lullaby loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peek-a-boo
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
12 comments
Comments feed for this article
August 13, 2009 at 18:01
Sam
I like it
I guess I’m one of the babies that didn’t keep.
August 13, 2009 at 19:03
Christina
So true! Words well spoken. I just made a list today of things that needed to get done and well… lets just say that I have a feeling they wont get done for awhile.
August 13, 2009 at 19:33
Ingrid Schlueter
No, you didn’t keep, Sam, but you’re a nice guy now that you’re grown up, too!!
August 13, 2009 at 21:10
Helen
How well I understand this, now that the youngest of nine is almost 8 years old. But in that bunch is a child with Down syndrome and I’ve come to learn that you really don’t want them to “keep.” You want them to grow up, and when they don’t grow up as expected, the heartache is deep and profound.
But for that precious time when they are babies, being a “shiftless” housekeeper but a selfless mother is a worthy achievement.
Carry on, Ingrid! We understand fully if there are fewer Slices and less Hope from you. (But I must confess, I check every day for an Emmy update. My baby didn’t keep, so I love hearing about and seeing yours.)
August 13, 2009 at 21:33
Ingrid Schlueter
Hi Helen,
I don’t really want my kids to stay babies either, but I don’t think mothers ever get over the experience of the sweetness of having them and enjoying them for a few short months. As for Hope and Slice, I’m not working and haven’t been for several months now, so a post here and there on Slice is a good diversion mentally for me for the few moments it takes to put it up. I try to check out the news each day to stay informed. As the baby sleeps so much of the day, it gives me something to think about. As for this blog, it is pure pleasure to interact with other Christian moms, so it’s my little mental health break every other day or so. It’s not even close to being work for me!
August 13, 2009 at 22:28
Jane
That’s a lovely poem and so true. I just have to get over feeling that I should really be sorting out the clean washing rather than bouncing my baby on my knee and having chats with him in babyese. Which is fairly ironic as I’ve always loathed housework.
August 13, 2009 at 22:38
Jessica Fales
Oh Ingrid! My mom had this in needle point picture in her room. She put it next to the rocker where she rocked all six of her babies. Thanks for a sweet memory.
Jess
August 14, 2009 at 04:28
Sherry Goodwin
I missed the rocking with my own three children as I was a working mother with a career. . .so much for that! I wish I had stayed home and baked cookies with them. But a willing grandmother took over where I failed and in time I realized what I had missed. Now as a grandmother of ten and a great-grandmother of four, I realize a lot of things I didn’t when I was just about 20 something. I am sixty something and a lot wiser and I would do things a lot differently back then with what I know now. God knows my heart and I am so glad you can be home with Emily Frances as you were with the other little ones and you aren’t missing your precious moments with her. I have found much comfort with spending a lot of time with my yongest grandson Noah Fredrick and helping with his care since he was born four years ago. . .I have thanked God over and over for the time I’ve had with that little one. I have always loved my children dearly but they really needed me to just be home with them. . .Noah is almost too big to rock now–he weighs 39 lbs. and is 42 inches tall so even though the rocking chair remains in “his” room at my house, I am outside catching baby toads with him for the bug box right now. It was a very precious time while it lasted, however. We will start Awanas soon and we talk about God all the time and he is a little lamb for the Lord–God has need of lambs as well as sheep, doesn’t He? What a privilege to just care for them when they can’t do for themselves yet. Growth takes time. God has taught me many things since I’ve known Him. And I’m still learning.
August 14, 2009 at 17:39
Melisa H.
I read this as I sit in my rocker by the computer – with my baby sleeping on my lap. For once, my kitchen counters are mostly clean and the dishes done – but he was entertained by the older 2 while I accomplished it. The floors – they will wait for another day while he is snuggled on me! I had to post this on my blog as well!
August 14, 2009 at 20:30
Carol
Ingrid, You have your priorities right, Praise God!
August 15, 2009 at 01:35
akaGaGa
When I was pregnant for my first 32+ years ago, I embroidered the following from a kit:
Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
for children grow up we’ve learned to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.
Since that time, I’ve never been known as a great housekeeper, but some say I’ve been a pretty good Mom. The finished embroidery now hangs in my daughter’s house, and I am blessed to be able to apply the same concept to my granddaughter.
Thanks for posting this. It’s a blessing to know who wrote it.
August 15, 2009 at 17:11
Anjelle
I love it!
Hope you are doing much better sister Ingrid! God Bless you!