4 Nov, 2007
I Took His Hand and Followed
Posted by teacherjulie @ 8:49 pm
Shelved under Bits and Pieces, Lessons in Life, Parenting

My dishes went unwashed today
I didn’t make my bed
I took his hand and followed
Where his eager footsteps led

Oh, yes, we went a little adventuring
My little child and I
Exploring all the great outdoors
Beneath the sun and sky

We watched a robin feed her young
We climbed a sunlit hill
Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky
We plucked a daffodil.

That the house was so neglected
That I didn’t brush the stairs
In twenty years, no one on earth
Will know or even care.

But that I’ve helped my little child
To noble adulthood grow
In twenty years the whole wide world
May look and see and know.

Author Unknown

Update:

I have read this poem a few months back and had it photocopied. I have forgotten about it and where I placed the paper, as what usually happens to loose scraps, LOL. Well, I found it when we decided to do some serious cleaning in the library this weekend. I have posted this for those who will stumble in my blog. Yup, you can copy this one since it is not mine. This is for all of us who are willing to stop what we are doing to be able to spend precious moments with our children.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 4th, 2007 at 8:49 pm and is filed under Bits and Pieces, Lessons in Life, Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Permalink | 8 Comments
5 Nov, 2007 @ 5:39 am
Christianne said:

I love this! I hope you don’t mind if I steal it :D

  • No problem, Christianne, I already updated the post for those who want to copy that. It is not my work and my aim was to share the poem. This post was time-stamped and I wasn’t able to edit until this morning, was busy the whole day yesterday. Lovely and heartwarming no?

5 Nov, 2007 @ 6:47 am
Rach (Heart of Rachel) said:

That is a beautiful poem indeed. Thanks for sharing it with us and giving us permission to copy it. :)

  • No problem Rachel, that is for everyone of us busy mothers. I can relate to the unwashed dishes and neglected house, LOL! I am not warming to the idea of getting a helper so we have to do our part to make the house presentable and clean for all of us. Thanks :) My, you are up early!

5 Nov, 2007 @ 9:12 pm
Christianne said:

Thanks Julie! I put it in my user info (http://docuventaries.livejournal.com/profile) :)

6 Nov, 2007 @ 9:44 pm
jeannie said:

this is so helpful… thank you for sharing it Julie

  • No problem, Jeannie. This holds true to us mothers. Never mind the clutter, we can live with it. Precious time spent together has more worth than washed plates and scrubbed steps :)

7 Nov, 2007 @ 10:44 am
annamanila said:

Awright! Beautiful alibi for not dusting and sweeping and mopping.

I love this almost as much as I love this (for me) unforgettable line: “A house is not a home until you can write ‘I love you’ on furniture thick with dust.”

  • AM, are you talking about our house? :D

7 Nov, 2007 @ 10:52 am
feng said:

hmm, words in the poem depicts a familiar scenario we have at home esp. on weekends. :) you know, when a Mom has many many chores to do but a child begs you to play with him.

i just hope that last stanza holds true some more 20 years from now.

  • Ah, Feng, ours are depicted Monday-Wednesday. Just today, before we came home, my daughter Trixie washed the plates we used this morning because i didn’t have the time to do it before we left. I’m not feeling well this morning till now. Bothersome back pains. Buti na lang, she can be asked to do these things without too much fuss. She even had rice cooking when we arrived around 7pm. But of course, she asks for some “monetary benefits” :D

7 Nov, 2007 @ 11:36 am
Desert Diva said:

What a lovely and powerful poem! It is important to spend time with children – they grow up so very quickly!

  • Yes, they grow up so quickly. It would be wonderful to make time go by slowly. So we have to make the most with what we have on our hands, including spending quality time with our loved ones.

9 Nov, 2007 @ 5:05 pm
N!cE said:

Hi Teacher Julie! This poem really touched my heart. Ganyan ako everytime i’m home. I never get to finish everything as my son is always asking me to play with him. hehehe

http://www.mommastuff.com
http://www.nicemorning.net

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