Apology to my Daughters

playing, just playing

I should have taught you the proper way

to jump in water puddles

and not worried so much

about how much your shoes cost

or if you would get dirty.

 

I learned my lesson well

and when you have daughters;

I will, laughing, teach them to JUMP.

I might even help them

take their sandals off first.

Author's Note

Dressed in my funny clothes on Saturday, I met two of the sweetest little toddler girls. No matter how much I smiled or how many times I showed them how they weren't quite sure they wanted to jump in. Big brother did, though, several times. Made me wonder why I missed that with my kids . . .

Reviews

[Raef C. Boylan]

Ah...grandparent indulgence. Some people view it as parental revenge haha.

I'm thinking a few commas/semi colon in the second stanza might help with pace:
"I learned my lesson well;
and when you have daughters
I will, laughing, teach them to JUMP."

Maybe not. See what you think.

It's appealing in its simple sincerity and reflection. I liked.
I'm a sucker for a little story in a poem - especially one with a punchline-esque final line haha.

[LJW]

This got my vote in the Motherhood contest.

Simply put with great meaning behind it. I love this.

[Ellen Hammond]

Short and sweet. I often think that when our children are ,we are so busy trying to take care of their daily needs that we sometimes forget to just enjoy their enthusiasm for puddle jumping etc. But hindsight is 20/20 and we can enjoy playing with our grandchildren because someone else has the responsibility of them.

Nice poem, my friend.

[cest la vie]

Love this.. nothing is sweeter than the dirty, sweat stained clothes of children from a day of play.. Great lessons for childhood, adulthood.. Wonderful poem, Emily.

[[untitled]]

Beautiful poem. Concise and oh, so sweet. I certainly relate to this, the regrets we endure as parents. Wonderful imagery. Nice job.

[Lily1111]

So happy that I found this little gem of a poem. I adore the message conveyed here, one close to my heart. I LOVE puddle jumping and still cannot resist a nice deep puddle. My daughter didn't have to be coaxed. She learned the joy of jumping in puddles by watching me. Clearly, I thoroughly enjoyed this poem. You are going to be an awesome grandmother! No child will ever remember how clean their shoes were, but they never forget the fun and sense of freedom and abandon that comes with jumping in puddles. Besides, Bernard Shaw said "We don't stop playing because we grow old, we go old because we stop playing." So true!

[Bear]

hahahaha... now you're getting the right idea!! ;~) But hey... perhaps you could just forget about the grandkids shoes and yours as well and all just kick loose and stomp together thru the mud puddles laughing and singing along the "fun way"??!!

Walking in the rain... what a good thing to do!!
Thanks for the big smile upon my face!!
Sallie Bear

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

It is kinda funny and yet it tells so much of how many parents feel... they feel either they were to strick or not strick enough but in the end they are human... how true it is they try to compensate when they become grand parents.

[Siddartha Beth Pierce]

Oh yes, I remember playing in the mud puddle at the bottom of the hill at my parents in the country with my younger sister. It is important to remember that getting a little dirty sometimes is quite fun. Thank you for sharing this.
Light,
Siddartha

[An Ordinary Woman]

Awww, Emily! The image here is fantastic. I was a mud puddle freak when I was little so this really got to me. I love it!

I have 4 granddaughters, although they are young I can already tell, three are jumpers and the other is not. lol
Well, Madison really is too young to know for sure but shes leaning heavily towards jumping.
A great write Emily!

[Deborah Leah Krempa]

Such a cute, sweet little poem. Thank you for sharing. Debileah