Babies don't keep

I've been thinking for some time about how fast Clive's life is going by, and our lives for that matter. I've decided to be more conscious about writing down events and special moments so that I can look back and remember them. I originally started this blog over a year ago, but never was motivated to post anything. Then my mother got sick, so I used it as an avenue to update family and friends on her status.

I miss her more than anything and I'm glad that I could write about her last days with us here. She was an amazing person with so much strength and courage. I am still amazed that she went through so much suffering and still remained so much at peace through it all. I know if I was in her situation, I would have fallen apart. I'm glad that I can look back and tell Clive and his brother what an amazing, Godly, grandmother they had.

So now this is going to be my space to share things that are going on in our lives. It's not necessarily meant to be our lives on display for everyone to see, but a chance to keep track and share the different things going on in our lives, especially our children's lives. I feel like i'm forgetting so many little things already, and I want to save some of those precious memories.

So I'm going to start with today. We went to the library this morning for our first story time. I wasn't sure what to expect when we got there and Clive doesn't like to sit still for long, so I was ready to be leaving if things didn't work out. I met a few of my friends who came with their children. The class mostly consisted of sing along songs with hand motions, they passed out instruments, and there was a short board book reading time. Clive was in and out of being interested in what was happening but he was interested in one thing. There was a small table nearby with some name tags and markers so I let him proceed to decorate a name tag while I wrote his name on it. He was having so much fun and would say "help" whenever he wanted to open a new marker. I started to become preoccupied with the songs while he was coloring and as soon as I glanced back at him, he had blue marker all over his face. I felt like a bad mother, especially considering I was right next to him "supervising". Oh well, my friend Laura gave me a baby wipe and it was gone in no time. We checked out three books. I'm hoping to get him acquainted to the library. I want him to learn to enjoy reading and I think if he becomes comfortable there, it will be a great place to go on days that we need to get out of the house.

As i said before, i've been thinking about how fast children grow up. I came across this poem and it made me think about enjoying whats important a little more because babies don't keep.


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, 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 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