Mom Showed Me the Way

They say that only a Mom really knows
How quickly life moves, how fast time goes.
From babies to toddlers to school girls and boys
Rattles and stuffed animals to being too big for toys.

Those older and wiser try to tell the young Mom
To live life while they're young, they'll soon be at prom.
Soon driving and laughing, or texting all day
Growing and changing and moving away.

A Mom's heart breaks with each ache her child feels
Though she tries to soften the blows making deals.
With God or with man or whoever she can
To help her son grow up to be a man.

To moms everywhere on any given day
Your job is to see your children on their way.
To manhood and to womanhood too
Until you soon have no more job to do.

Moms take the blame for whatever goes wrong
And pass out the praise when the boy's big and strong.
'That's my boy' or 'That girl is mine'
Pride in your voice, eyes that do shine.

As I look toward my children, now all grown
I know that I'd give up all that I own.
To go back in time, if just for a day
To a time when a tiny baby in my arms did lay.

The future still so far far away
For now just only time to play.
And knowing then what now you know
How quickly that little baby would grow.

A good Mom works herself out of a job
The kids grow up and time does rob
The days away and memories too
Leaving Mom sometimes sad and blue.

But don't despair, Moms here and there
Before you know, life will soon be fair.
When that baby of yours has a baby too
For you to hold and rock and sing to.

That's what the older ones all know
Life's endless circle as little ones grow.
You've done your job, you did your best
And now you've earned your little rest.

Thanks to all the Moms, especially mine
You raised all eight, should have been nine.
You saw us all through thick and thin
You did it all while wearing a grin.

Because you knew our time would come
We'd have to let go of our own little ones.
Wave good-bye and choke back our tears
Let them go their own way despite all the fears.

Thanks dear Mom for showing me the way
And for teaching me how to sing and to play.
Showing me what a good Mom should do
When I grew up, I became just like you.

-- Original version was published on Yahoo Voices as a Mother's Day tribute to my Mom for Mother's Day 2012. This tribute has been revised for publication on my blog.