
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?
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Life is Like a Teeter-Totter
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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?
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