Couldn’t Live Without You

You’re just a little fellow with a lot of funny ways,
Just three-foot-six of mischief set with eyes that fairly blaze;
You’re always up to something with those busy hands o’ yours,
And you leave a trail o’ ruin on the walls an’ on the doors,
An’ I wonder, as I watch you, an’ your curious tricks I see,
Whatever is the reason that you mean so much to me.

You’re just a chubby rascal with a grin upon your face,
Just seven years o’ gladness, an’ a hard and trying case;
You think the world’s your playground, an’ in all you say an’ do
You fancy everybody ought to bow an’ scrape to you;
Dull care’s a thing you laugh at just as though ’twill never be,
So I wonder, little fellow, why you mean so much to me.

Now your face is smeared with candy or perhaps it’s only dirt,
An’ it’s really most alarming how you tear your little shirt;
But I have to smile upon you, an’ with all your wilful ways,
I’m certain that I need you ’round about me all my days;
Yes, I’ve got to have you with me, for somehow it’s come to be
That I couldn’t live without you, for you’re all the world to me.

Just a Boy

Get to understand the lad—­
He’s not eager to be bad;
If the right he always knew,
He would be as old as you. 
Were he now exceeding wise,
He’d be just about your size;
When he does things that annoy,
Don’t forget, he’s just a boy.

Could he know and understand,
He would need no guiding hand;
But he’s young and hasn’t learned
How life’s corners must be turned;
Doesn’t know from day to day
There is more in life than play,
More to face than selfish joy—­
Don’t forget he’s just a boy.

Being just a boy, he’ll do
Much you will not want him to;
He’ll be careless of his ways,
Have his disobedient days,
Wilful, wild and headstrong, too,
Just as, when a boy, were you;
Things of value he’ll destroy,
But, reflect, he’s just a boy.

Just a boy who needs a friend,
Patient, kindly to the end,
Needs a father who will show
Him the things he wants to know;
Take him with you when you walk,
Listen when he wants to talk,
His companionship enjoy,
Don’t forget, he’s just a boy!

What Home’s Intended For

When the young folks gather ’round in the good old-fashioned way,
Singin’ all the latest songs gathered from the newest play,
Or they start the phonograph an’ shove the chairs back to the wall
An’ hold a little party dance, I’m happiest of all. 
Then I sorter settle back, plumb contented to the core,
An’ I tell myself most proudly, that’s what home’s intended for.