'Mommy; <br />What am I supposed to say <br />When they pat my head and ask me <br />If I've been good today? <br />I don't really want to tell them; <br />I don't know if I've been good. <br />I try so hard, and yet each day <br />I don't do the things I should; <br />For I am so forgetful; <br />My chores I leave undone; <br />And when I rush to do them <br />I create another one. <br />There are so many things to learn, <br />So many things to see, <br />And time goes by so quickly, <br />There should be two of me. <br />Sometimes I say a word in spite- <br />I know it isn't kind. <br />My heart tells me it isn't right, <br />But it doesn't speak in time. <br />Oh, Mommy dear, come tell me <br />Why can't I just be good, <br />And make you happy all the time, <br />Like I did in babyhood? ' <br /> <br />'My darling child, I love you. <br />How wondrously you speak. <br />Some adults don't know what to say <br />When a little child they meet. <br />Yes, you are forgetful, <br />But then I'm forgetful too <br />Because that's the way we humans are: <br />You don't think I'm bad, do you? <br />Sometimes we foolish adults <br />Say a little child is bad, <br />And forget, when we were children, <br />That would have made us sad. <br />Many times we speak in haste, <br />The hurt we cause unseen. <br />Sometimes, when I'm impatient, <br />I don't say just what I mean: <br />For, even if you make mistakes, <br />You're the best that's ever been, <br />And when you say you love me, <br />You've wiped the whole slate clean <br />For, every time you make amends, <br />You've done the best you could. <br />The only thing that's ever bad <br />Is to stop trying to be good.'<br /><br />Adeline Foster<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/plain-talk/
