Let Me Introduce . . .
The words that you utter, the words that you blend,
Will make your child that way to the end.
How do you introduce your children to friends?
“Well, then,” you say, “It all depends . . .”
“This is our oldest, our steady John,
He’s so reliable to lean upon,
His reports at school need gazing on,
He’ll be a fine young man, will my son John!
But this is our second, his name is Paul,
He is lanky, and skinny, and tall,
Just like his dad with no brains at all,
Was a dreadful baby, the slowest to crawl!
And now here is Cindy, our blonde cutie.
She is my favorite, and such a wee beauty,
She is always obedient, and does all her duties,
Is always good, not like Paul, who is so snooty.
And here is our interesting Anthony Roy,
He is such a strange little boy,
Lacks affection and breaks every toy,
(But then, we never planned on Anthony Roy)!”.
Which of these children will feel mother’s love?
Yet each was planned for by God above.
How much better for this mother to say—
“Come and meet my children today . . .
This is John and Anthony Roy,
And this is Paul, our tallest boy,
And here with the tea is Cindy Joy.”
I know I’ve made mistakes and want you to know
When we make mistakes, we reap what we sow.
But now I realize as my children get older,
I must apologize and lots of blame shoulder.
Each one of our children has good and bad ways,
So don’t let them hear you at any time say,
The bad things they did, yesterday or today,
But be kind and loving and just see if it pays!
MARJ MULHALLAND, Auckland, New Zaland
(My children are not called by the names in this rhyme).
Reprinted from Above Rubies, No. 15 * September/October, 1980.
Picture: Vincent Art Studio