DADDY CAN UNDERSTAND
When all are around the sitting room,
Talking and laughing at what is said,
Then nine o'clock right before us will loom.
Mother says, "Children must go to bed."
We have to leave then, and go out alone,
Up those dreadful, long, hallway stairs
Into a dark room, to cry and moan,
Because we're not grown; can't put on airs.
We reach near the top of those long steps,
Then we sit down; through the transom peep
At them laughing, and moving their lips.
Our daddy looks up, and catches us peep;
So he just quietly leaves the room,
Walks up to meet us, and takes our hand:
"Here, young folks ought to go to bed soon,
Or they'll not live long upon this land."
He lights the gas; beside us will sit;
Tells us stories of his boyhood's day;
When we are sleeping, then he will quit—
"It's pretty tough for them," he will say.
Our daddy can understand.
Talking and laughing at what is said,
Then nine o'clock right before us will loom.
Mother says, "Children must go to bed."
We have to leave then, and go out alone,
Up those dreadful, long, hallway stairs
Into a dark room, to cry and moan,
Because we're not grown; can't put on airs.
We reach near the top of those long steps,
Then we sit down; through the transom peep
At them laughing, and moving their lips.
Our daddy looks up, and catches us peep;
So he just quietly leaves the room,
Walks up to meet us, and takes our hand:
"Here, young folks ought to go to bed soon,
Or they'll not live long upon this land."
He lights the gas; beside us will sit;
Tells us stories of his boyhood's day;
When we are sleeping, then he will quit—
"It's pretty tough for them," he will say.
Our daddy can understand.
When sometimes we go out for a walk,
So proud with our big daddy to be,
A boy will pass, while in the park—
He's skating! Our eyes follow to see.
Next day when we have come home from school,
We get a box, and what do you think?
So proud with our big daddy to be,
A boy will pass, while in the park—
He's skating! Our eyes follow to see.
Next day when we have come home from school,
We get a box, and what do you think?
[119]
