what REALLY matters...

As a mother there is always so much "to do".But there is so much more to being a mother as these lines remind me. I love the vivid word pictures..

I know so well the value of neat rooms,
White curtains and the warmth of polished brass,
Wide window sills with plants in coloured rows,
Serenity that comes in shining glass.
But these, O Lord, are not important things,
Nor will they leave much mark in days to be;
My children will forget their ordered rooms
In after years,but when they think of me,
May they remember I laughed much,and think
Upon the way I shared their gaiety,
And how I read them stories from old books
Of brave fair days, and sometimes made them see
A wider world. O make them understand
That always I have deemed it more my task
To be as understanding as I could,
Than keep clean rugs upon a dusted floor.

                                                             Dorthy Tressider.