Babies Don't Keep

Holding my baby in my arms, watching his little lips move as he quietly dreams of nursing, listening to the soft sound of his breathing, inhaling the sweet aroma of his baby scent, and absolutely relishing in this moment that will never come again.
He will only be this exact way today. Tomorrow brings growth and new developments and one morning I will wake up, these days nothing but a memory. There is nothing more important or pressing to accomplish than for this mama to just sit and hold her baby.


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.

-Ruth Hulbert Hamilton