JanBeek

Twenty-seven years ago I wrote the poem that’s framed in the picture above (when I still considered myself a kid). I presented it as a birthday gift to my mom. When she left this earth a few years ago, I inherited the poem and the ceramic, musical mice in the teeter-totter that accompanied it.

Yesterday a blogging friend wrote a piece about “Balance.” She asked if it gets easier to find balance in life as we get older. I recalled this poem and told her I would post it today.

Rereading it now with 27 extra birthdays under my belt, I believe the “IFs” in here still are relevant today. And without that foundation of love, I would imagine finding balance is a bigger life-long struggle than it is for those whose home, mother, family and friends provided the love and stability we all crave.

What do you think?

.

Life is Like a Teeter-Totter

.

Life is like a teeter-totter,

Full of ups and downs.

Kids learn to roll and toss with it,

To shake away the frowns,

If they have had a loving home

To lean back and reminisce on when they roam.

.

Life is like a teeter-totter,

Full of bounces and of bumps.

Kids learn to rock with a jolly jump

And shake away the lumps

If they have had a loving mother

To hug them tight and with kisses smother.

.

Life is like a teeter-totter,

It works better in pairs.

They keep each other balanced

And handle life in shares –

If they have had their mother’s arms

To guard against abuse and harms.

.

Life is like a teeter-totter,

Full of laughs and silly giggle.

Full of noise and wonderment –

Girls to squeeze and boys that wiggle –

If they have been secure in love,

Both from home’s hearth and God above.

.

Thank you, Mom, for filling my life

With love. More ups than downs, for sure.

You seemed to know my every need.

For every hurt, you had a cure.

Happy Birthday, Mother dear –

I thank God every day that you are near!

.

.

If you had a happy, loving home, with a mom who provided that sense of security and the ready help when you needed it, I bet you are able to keep life’s teeter-totter in better balance than those folks who missed that connection. How would you characterize your childhood? Did you have a mom who helped you have a greater chance for a balanced life?