Why Don't the Children Help Mother More?

When she was thirty, Ms. Maggie

Scolded her five-year-old daughter:
“That’s not the way to wash dishes!
You’re using far too much water!
You’ve made your bed look more messy!
Spilled water all over the floor!
You are too young to help Mama!
Don’t try doing that any more!

Run off and play with the others!

All you’re good for, yet, is play!
Children are burdens to mothers,
My Grandma used to say.”

When she was forty, Ms. Maggie

Scolded her teenaged son:
“That’s not the way to trim hedges!
You’ll never get the job done!
You’ve mowed the lawn all uneven!
Let beetles take over your beans!
You’ll be no use in the garden
Till you are out of your teens.

Run off and play with the others!

All you’re good for, yet, is play!
Children are burdens to mothers,
My Grandma used to say.”

When she was fifty, Ms. Maggie

Scolded her son-in-law:
“That’s not the way to raise children!
They’ll never learn to mind Pa!
You’ve got automatic transmission:
How will you ever teach them to drive?
Young people will never quite grow up
As long as old folks are alive.

Run off and play with the others!

All you’re good for, yet, is play!
Children are burdens to mothers,
My Grandma used to say.”

When she was sixty, Ms. Maggie

Scolded her son’s blushing bride:
“That’s not the way to hang a picture!
It’s leaning down to one side!
You’re paying too much for storm windows
When you could use garbage bags...”
Sweet Jessica said to her husband,
“Oh, how your mother nags!

Let’s run off and play like the others.

All I want to do is play.
Life’s too short to listen to all the things
Old Naggy Maggie will say.”

When she was seventy, Maggie

Said, “Don’t wash MY dishes that way!”
So the nurse left the dishes piled up in the sink
And said, “That’s what I heard the hag say.”
The sink soon gave off a strong odor.

The bugs soon took over the rugs.

Ms. Maggie was put in a nursing home
And sedated by powerful drugs.

And like others in their generations,

Her grandchildren and children just play.
Children are burdens to mothers
Who nag good intentions away.