Motherhood, Children and Poems

Jennifer has a wonderful entry on her blog about motherhood and how doing things for your family can sometimes keep you from having real time with your family. It made me think of a poem I had cross-stitched when my children were young and pretty much summed it up for me. This is what it said:

Cooking and cleaning can wait ‘till tomorrow.
For children grow up, I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

I’ve seen this poem with minor little changes, like settle down cobwebs or I’m nursing my baby, but the poem is essentially the same.

I decided to investigate and this is what I learned. The poem, Song for a Fifth Child, was written by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton and was first published in Ladies Home Journal in October 1958. Here it is in its entirety.

Song for a Fifth Child
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

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.

While looking for the poem I found a different version that was listed as Author Unknown yet it is familiar enough to say it was inspired by Song for a Fifth Child.

I hope that my child, looking back on today,
remembers a mother who had time to play.
Children grow up when you're not looking,
there will be years ahead for cleaning and cooking.

So hush now cobwebs, dust - go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby cause babies don't keep.