Saturday, January 29, 2011

Parenting Places

Now women say that when you have a babe at the breast,
Sleeping when the babe sleeps is considered best.
But back in the days when I had my first,
This was the time for a housekeeping burst.

It was important to create a castle for your man,
Cooking and cleaning til things were spic and span.
And then to be sure that the babies were quiet
When he came home, or there would be a riot.

Putting on lipstick and combing one's hair;
He had better not find you resting in a chair
If you didn't please him, he was perfectly free
To find somewhere more peaceful to be.

Now, as I sit with my recovering friend,
I remember how different things were back then.
I clean when and what's needed, but no more;
No one ever got sick from an unswept floor.

I don't know that things are necessarily better;
Some have no one home to tend their litter.
It would be nice if there were official block parents;
It could even make for good economic sense.

Any parent who was the parent in charge,
Would be enforcing the neighborhood's laws.
Now that there are many stay home "mister moms"
We would probably pay them fairly for their time.

We could even have grandpas and grandmas paid
To soothe the babies when they are afraid.
Those who haven't lost their energy yet
Could teach skills to the younger set.

This is what old time schools and churches did
Before our communities became so big.
Community schools would be perfect spaces
To create these safe parenting places.

2 comments:

  1. There were times when there were no options. Now there are more, whether good or bad I don't know, but I am glad that, mostly, the title KING of HIS CASTLE is gone.

    Nothihng in the world can wear a person down more than a crying baby. When you are too young or maybe too dumb, to even try to understand the baby's problem.
    Anyway your entry brings up a lot of OLD questions with a NEW approach to solving it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You have a way of putting immense problems down on paper - and in rhyme - that exceeds my ability to grasp. I will say what I always said (as a pastor) when I dedicated babies. "God did not give this baby to the government. God did not give this baby to the schools. God did not give this baby to your neighbors. God gave this baby to you, his/her parents! Therefore YOU are the primary persons responsible to give proper guiding influences for what the child becomes. 'Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.' This does not mean the child will never disappoint you. It does mean he/she will always remember what you taught them by precept and example."

    On the issue of relationships between the wife and the husband, I'm not sure I agree with Jack. I still want to be KING OF MY CASTLE!!! The way for me to do that is treat my wife like the QUEEN THAT SHE IS!! We all know that Jack treats Sherry just like THE QUEEN! Aren't you thankful that you have Richard!

    ReplyDelete