A poem for the month

A colleague gave me this poem--neither of us knows who the author is.  (If you do, please let me know in the comments--thanks.)

We accept responsibility for children
who like to be tickled,
who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
who sneak Popsicles before supper,
who can never find their shoes.

And we accept responsibility for those
who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an x-rated world.

We accept responsibility for children
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money,
who cover themselves with Band-Aids and sing off key,
who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
who slurp their soup.

And we accept responsibility for those
who never get dessert,
who don't have any room to clean up,
whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
whose monsters are real.

We accept responsibility for children
who spend all their allowance before TUesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who squirm in church and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles make us cry.

And we accept responsibility for those
whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren't spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep.

We accept responsibility for children
who want to be carried and for those who must,
for those we never give up on and for those
who don't get a second chance.

For those we smother..
and for those who will grab the hand
of anybody kind enough to take it.

--Author, unknown


See you tomorrow.

--K