Disclaimer: I no not own nay of the characters. This song "then they do" belongs to Trace Aidkens

//In the early rush of morning,//

//Trying to get the kids to school: //

//One's hanging on my shirt-tail,//

//Another's locked up in her room.//

The house used to be so noisy during the morning time. Between Lucy constantly worrying about how she looked, and Ruthie was always trying to get attention when she was younger. Annie would be downstairs making breakfast and I'd be trying to get ready for work. One quick kiss to Annie and grab a quick breakfast. On school days it was merely impossible to sit down for brekafast. Grab your luch and say good-bye and thwen they were all out the door...with a few stragglers left finishing up their last minute things.

//And I'm yelling up the stairs: //

//"Stop worrying 'bout your hair, you look fine."//

//Then they're fightin' in the backseat,//

//And I'm playing referee.//

I remember telling Lucy to hurry up. Mary was upstairs trying to find her basketball stuff, complaining that Lucy was hogging up the bathroom. When they finally got into the car they would fight over whatever sprung into their conversation. Before Matt could drive it would be me who drove them. I remember ther'd be Matt and Mary fighting and I'd be telling them to stop. How I always ended up being the referee I will never know nor understand.

//Now someone's gotta go,//

//The moment that we leave.//

//And everybody's late,//

//I swear that I can't wait till they grow up.//

I remember when Ruthie started school she'd always somehow end up having to go to the bathroom the second we pulled out of the driveway. Lucy would be yelling saying were going to be late...we always were. I just sit in the front telling myself that one day they will grow up, just sitting back and waiting until they do.

//Then they do, and that's how it is.//

//It's just quiet in the mornin',//

//Can't believe how much you miss,//

//All they do and all they did.//

//You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true://

//Then they do.//

Now they are all grown up. Matt, Mary, and Lucy are all married and have their own lives. I look back on those childhood days wishing just once I could go back and re live them. Lucy is finally starting a family and Matt is married to Sarah, both are doctors. I remember those days of yelling to get out of bed or for Lucy to let Mary into the bathroom. I always wanted their dreams to come true, and now they are. I hate to admit but...I miss those school day rushes. I miss all of it.

//Now the youngest is starting college,//

//She'll be leavin' in the Fall.//

//And Simon called,//

//To ask if we could talk.//

//And I got the impression,//

//That he's about to pop the question any day.//

Ruthie is now starting to college. Sam and David are in junior high. Simon just called. He wants to know how to ask his girlfriend to marry him. Everybody is all grown up. My two youngest boys are now going after the girls. Sam just got his first girlfriend, and David just got his first kiss. My kids are all grown up.

//I look over at their pictures,//

//Sittin' in their frames.//

//I see them as babies://

//I guess that'll never change.//

//You pray all their lives,//

//That someday they will find happiness.//

Now here I am, looking at their baby pictures. Mary's first steps and Matt's first day of school. They have always been my pride and joy, always the cute little babies that I love. No matter what changes they will always be that. I would always pray at night or in the Church that one day Matt would grow up to be what he wanted to be, Mary would be a basketball champ. Lucy would finally have a family. All their dreams that they've had each and every one of them. Simon is a producer, and Ruthie is going to Harvard. Sam and David are the last of them, and even they are growing up.

//Then they do, and that's how it is.//

//It's just quiet in the mornin',//

//Can't believe how much you miss,//

//All they do and all they did.//

//You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true://

//Then they do//.

//No more Monday PTA's,//

//No carpools, or soccer games.//

//Your work is done.//

//Now you've got time that's all your own.//

//You've been waitin' for so long,//

//For those days to come.//

No more meetings with the principal. No more basketball games for Mary. Now I have time to myself. Just Annie and I.I have been waiting for so long for time to myself. Now it has finally come. My work is done. I can spend more time at the Church, next it'll be retiring time for me. All those years of wishing they woul grow up one day, and they finally did.

//Then they do, and that's how it is.//

//It's just quiet in the mornin',//

//Can't believe how much you miss,//

//All they do and all they did.//

//You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true://

//Then they do.//

//Ah, then they do.//