Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Little Boy

If you  have a little boy or want one, this may make you cry- it's a poem my mom used to have hanging in our house.  When I was 10ish, I used to make up a new tune regularly and sing it.  The funny part is that I thought I was really original and that I could sing. Funny!

Anyway, Max has been asking to "watch bideo" which of course means he wants to watch his Baby Signing Time video- he's not much for tv or holding still for that matter, but he does like this video and if someone sits with him and does the signs, he'll stay on the couch for the full 30 minutes! So as a result of a rain day, I found myself on the couch, signing away with Max and watching his pudgy little baby hands as they talked about shoes and socks, good manners, airplanes and buses, and hand washing...

Before I knew it, I was studying his hands, trying to commit them to memory, chastising myself for not taking more time to etch them in my brain.  I couldn't for the life of me remember what they looked like 6 months ago- and then "the poem" the now hangs in our bathroom entered my mind:

Little Boy

Let me hold you a while to my heart, little boy

I am going to lose you, I know

For one terrible thing about nice little boys

Is the fact that they simply will grow

 

Do you know that you'll soon be too heavy to hold

Why, your feet even now reach the floor

Tis a very nice size if you'd only stop now

But I think you intend to grow more

 

Let me gaze in your eyes while their light is for me

Let us sing while you still like my song

Ere the hungry years carry away my small boy

I am fearing it will not be long

 

Oh, your hand is so warm and so chubby to hold

And your soft cheek invites me to kiss you

Let me hold you a while to my heart, little boy

For I think I am going to miss you

5 comments:

  1. :( I read this to Caleb, and he said, "I will miss you too when I get married." awww... i wish i could store all of this up in a bottle for the days to come. have you heard the song by the dixie chicks, "God Speed, Sweet Dreams"? It is for little boys. So sweet. I sing it to our boys every night, and it honestly calms them down when they are upset. One more peom- if you haven't seen it, "The Little Chap Who Follows Me" by Lee Fisher. So sweet! Thanks for this one! (and your sweet comment the other day! miss you friend!)

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  3. Thanks so much for posting this poem. Many years ago, I wrote it in my sons' baby books, but a flood took away those precious volumes. Now that my sons are 34 & 31, & my first grandson is on the way, I could only remember bits & pieces of this poem. When I found out yesterday that we are expecting a boy, I became frantic to find it again. Thanks to you & Google, I have it again to write in my grandson's book.

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    1. Thanks Carolyn-- glad you found it, it is so sweet!

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