When You Have a Child

When you have a child
You learn it's a serious business
To have a little fun
You give grace and get forgiveness
Not seven times seven
But seven times seventy one

And when you have a child
Those four walls you call a house
Take on a life of it's own
When you bring 'em home
You will cry and you will laugh
When they hurt it cuts you in half
It's your flesh and bone

And year after year
Pictures fill page after page
They never really grow up
Still your baby at any age
The first time you hold 'em
It's like you see God's smile
What a smile
When you have a child

And then boy meets girl
And perfume and gasoline
Reign on your perfect world
Curfews are often broken
Thank yous aren't spoken
He's got the keys to that old Dodge
And she's wearing a corsage
And her mama's pearls

And year after year
Pictures fill page after page
They never really grow up
Still your baby at any age
And the first time you hold 'em
It's like you feel God's smile
What a smile
When you have a child

You pray that phone call never comes
And if God forbid
How would you live
How could you go on
And on and on and on

And year after year
Close the chapter and turn the page
Blue ribbons and losing seasons
Flipping tassles on the stage
Oh but you don't need a photograph
You've got at least a million
Pictures of that smile
When you close your eyes
When you love a child
Oh when you love a child