Monday, November 4, 2019

Growing My Toddlers


First of all, I must apologize for my absenteeism of the past three weeks. We were on holiday (more about that tomorrow) and the internet onboard the ship and in Morocco was hard to come by. 
Also, I'm being especially lazy today because we just got back last night and I still have 'holiday brain'. So Jenny's genius theme for today, 'Busy Days', is getting the old poem treatment. It was only a year ago that I posted this. I do hope you still find it as enjoyable as the memory of it is for me! :)
It seemed a good idea, I thought
                Some hours in the yard.
The winter months had been so long
                And I felt the need of working hard.

So armed with gloves and rakes and things,
                I started out the door.
Trailed by two toddlers
                Who loved to help with Gramma’s chores.

Things went well for just a spell,
                As Gramma started in,
The girls spun circles in the yard
                Till Linney fell and bumped her chin.

A kiss and cuddle, tears were gone
                It really wasn’t hard.
I set her down and looked to see
                That Hazel’d wandered from the yard.

She’d not gone far, I scooped her up
                And carried her back home.
Then penned them both behind the gate,
                And told them sternly ‘not to roam’.

While toddlers watched, I grabbed my rake,
                But got no further then,
‘Cause Hazel shrieked; I had to run
                She’d fallen in the mud . . . again.

I fished her out and cleaned her off,
                A kiss, a tale to tell,
Then turned just as another shriek,
                Said Lin was in the mud as well.

I’m sure by now you’ve realized
                I didn’t manage much.
With Lin caught in the tramp’line springs
                And Hazel eating chalk and such.

Four bathroom breaks, ‘Pee, potty now!’
                And squabbles over things,
And pouring sand in someone’s hair,
                And all the angst that action brings.

Searching the yard from stem to stern
For Linney’s missing shoe,
Then doing the whole thing o'er again
                Cause Hazel’s hat was ‘somewhere’, too.

With helping up and helping down
                And watching in between.
It’s no wonder that my work just sat,
                With little progress to be seen.

Last night when all were sound asleep
                And peace had been restored,
I looked out the window there,
                And sang my praises to the Lord.

For though my tools were strewn about
With no sign of success,
My time was quite well spent, because
                I'm growing Toddlers in the mess.

Cause Mondays do get knocked a lot,
With poetry, we all besought,
To try to make the week begin
With pleasant thoughts,
Perhaps a grin?
To all of us, together, we
Have crafted poems for you to see.
And now that you’ve read what we’ve brought,
Did we help?
Or did we not…
Jenny
Mother Owl
Mimi

P.S. Totally forgot to add the part
Where I talk about next topic,
Just know that it is 'Glasses' and
Send me back into the tropics...

15 comments:

  1. Growing toddlers in the mess ;) Yes sometimes toddlers seem to be living off mud and such. I liked it.

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  2. Welcome back, Diane! Your trip sounds wonderful. Love this poem so much. So beautiful.

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    1. Thank you so much, Laurie! It's so nice to be back. Had a great time, but still good to be home!

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  3. Toddlers! Need to be fast on our feet when those little guys are around!

    The spam you have above? Go to your settings and include delete next to your reply section. Then delete this comment. I had the same one, twice. It doesn't stop.

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    1. And my 'fast' days are officially behind me! ;)
      Ugh. Spam warriors. Thank you, Susan. It's now gone.

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  4. Adorable ! Toddlers are a tough crowd for sure.

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    1. Makes my happy I had my littles when I was...younger! :)

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  5. Hope you had a fabulous time away and that we get to hear about it soon.

    Love the poem, you know what's most important.

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    1. Getting my post about our holiday together as we speak.
      And thank you for liking the poem. It was a special, albeit busy, day.

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  6. Yes, I only had one, but he was a handful. I am smiling, though, remembering. If there was a mud puddle anywhere on our route, he would somehow find it....exhausted me to read your poem.

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    1. I think there's a reason we have them when we are younger. And have a bit more energy...

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  7. I still love it, too, Diane - all folks considering becoming parents should have to read this! It captures both the difficult and the sweetness.

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