Babies Don't Keep

By Ruth Hulbert 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.

I spend so many of my days wiping noses and bandaging boo-boos, breaking up fights and making up rhymes. My google search history is nothing but children's books, maternity clothes and toddler crafts. I've never watched an episode of Oprah or followed the drama of a soap opera, but quiz me on Handy Manny's tools or the train names from Chuggington station and I'll pass with flying colors. Having a "good" day means nothing more than finding a new way to sneak veggies into an ordinary grilled cheese sandwich or cheese quesadilla. Every last one of my favorite songs are sung by cartoon characters. My purse contains more child-related items than adult ones. I get an average of 10 minutes "alone" time every day to shower, brush my teeth, do my hair, change my clothes and apply make-up...oftentimes, many of those are neglected.
 
In the meantime, no one does my dishes, washes my laundry, cleans my floors or plans ahead for dinner. Most of the time I'm ok with that, but then every now and then, it really gets to me. Looking at my to-do list this morning I really felt like a failure. So many of the things I listed were basic, simple, every day tasks that I just haven't been doing every day (or every other day or really at all in the last week).
 
I sulked for a bit, feeling down on myself then I remembered this poem that my mom quoted a few days ago to me. It just nails it. I haven't been doing the simple homemaker tasks....because I've been too busy doing the far more important mom stuff.
 
After taking a deep breath (and making myself a frappuccino) I feel much better. If I can accomplish even one thing off that monster to-do I'm going to feel ok today. :)