It is amazing how fast babies grow, especially in the first year. Within the first year a newborn infant will triple in weight and increase in length by 50 percent (kidshealth.org, 2012). It seems that new parents are frequently looking forward to the next milestone wondering when their infant will sit up, talk, crawl, stand and walk. Instead, they should be enjoying the moment and time with they have with their infant.
My mom had this poem called “Song for the Fifth Child” and I remember reading it as a child. Even though I did not thoroughly understand the poem at the time, I did like the end where it stated that she is rocking her baby. It is special to me because as an infant my mom would rock me in her rocking chair all of the time. I am the youngest of three and there is a four year gap between me and my brother, therefore, she was able to spend a lot of one on one time with me. Babies are so sweet and one needs to enjoy the time that they have with their infant. I have added the poem below to read.
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.
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).
(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.
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.
Luckily, we have pictures and videos that make it easy for us to remember them during their first year. A fun way to see how fast your infant grows is to take a picture each month with them next to the same stuffed animal. You will be surprised how much they grow throughout the year. Here is a video that shows an example of my nephew throughout his first year.
-Laura
http://youtu.be/wsfFgCfO8sU
kidshealth.org (2012). Growth and your newborn. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/ growth/grownewborn.html
What a sweet poem. Mothers have a lot of responsibilities, but kids move through the life stages so fast, it's valuable to pause and enjoy the time you have. It's easy to get so distracted by the things that "have to get done", that you forget the reason you started in the first place. It makes me sad when I see children who are at a day care center or with a nanny for 8 or more hours a day, their parent misses out on watching them grow up.
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