The Right Family

With time our notions allus change,

An’ years make old idees seem strange —

Take Mary there — time was when she

Thought one child made a family,

An’ when our eldest, Jim, was born

She used to say, both night an’ morn':

“One little one to love an’ keep,

To guard awake, an’ watch asleep;

To bring up right an’ lead him through

Life's path is all we ought to do.”

Two years from then our Jennie came,

But Mary did n't talk the same;

“Now that's just right,” she said to me,

“We've got the proper family —

A boy an’ girl, God sure is good;

It seems as though He understood

That I've been hopin’ every way

To have a little girl some day;

Sometimes I've prayed the whole night through —

One ai n't enough; we needed two.”

Then as the months went rollin’ on,

One day the stork brought little John,

An’ Mary smiled an’ said to me;

“The proper family is three;

Two boys, a girl to romp an’ play —

Jus’ work enough to fill the day.

I never had enough to do,

The months that we had only two;

Three's jus’ right, pa, we do n't want more.”

Still time went on an’ we had four.

An’ that was years ago, I vow,

An’ we have six fine children now;

An’ Mary's plumb forgot the day

She used to sit an’ sweetly say

That one child was enough for her

To love an’ give the proper care;

One, two or three or four or five —

Why, goodness gracious, sakes alive,

If God should send her ten to-night,

She'd vow her fam'ly was jus’ right!