What a Baby Costs
How much do babies cost? Said he
The other night upon my knee;
And then I said: “They cost a lot;
A lot of watching by a cot,
A lot of sleepless hours and care,
A lot of heartache and despair,
A lot of fear and trying dread,
And sometimes many tears are shed
In payment for our babies small,
But everyone is worth it all.
For babies people have to pay
A heavy price from day to day -
There is no way to get one cheap,
Why, sometimes, when they’re fast asleep
You have to get up in the night
And go and see that they’re all right,
But what they cost in constant care
And worry, does not half compare
With what they bring of joy and bliss,
You’d pay much more for just a kiss.
Who buys a baby has to pay
A portion of the bill each day;
He has to give his time and thought
Unto the little one he’s bought
He has to stand a lot of pain
Inside his heart and not complain;
And pay with lonely days and sad
For all the happy hours he’s had.
All this a baby costs, and yet
His smile is worth it all, you bet.”
by Edgar A. Guest
Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to the United States of America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his passing in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected into more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.
How much do babies cost? Said he
The other night upon my knee;
And then I said: “They cost a lot;
A lot of watching by a cot,
A lot of sleepless hours and care,
A lot of heartache and despair,
A lot of fear and trying dread,
And sometimes many tears are shed
In payment for our babies small,
But everyone is worth it all.
For babies people have to pay
A heavy price from day to day -
There is no way to get one cheap,
Why, sometimes, when they’re fast asleep
You have to get up in the night
And go and see that they’re all right,
But what they cost in constant care
And worry, does not half compare
With what they bring of joy and bliss,
You’d pay much more for just a kiss.
Who buys a baby has to pay
A portion of the bill each day;
He has to give his time and thought
Unto the little one he’s bought
He has to stand a lot of pain
Inside his heart and not complain;
And pay with lonely days and sad
For all the happy hours he’s had.
All this a baby costs, and yet
His smile is worth it all, you bet.”
by Edgar A. Guest
Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to the United States of America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his passing in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected into more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.
