No Charge - Melba Montgomery

My little boy came into the kitchen this evening

While I was fixing supper

And he handed me a piece of paper he'd been writing on

And after wiping my hands on my apron

I read it and this is what it said

For mowing the yard five dollars

Making my own bed this week one dollar

And going to the store fifty cents

An playing with little brother while you went shopping twenty five

Cents

For taking out the trash one dollar

Getting a good report card five dollars

And raking the yard two dollars

Total owed fourteen seventy five

Well I looked at I'm standing there expectantly

And a thousand memories flashed through my mind

So I picked up the pen and I turning the paper over

This is what I wrote

For the nine months I carried you

Growing inside me no charge

For the nights I've sat up with you

Doctored you prayed for you no charge

For the time and the tears

And the cost through the years there's no charge

When you add it all up

The full cost of my love is no charge

For the nights filled with dread

And the worries ahead no charge

For advice and the knowledge

And the cost of your college no charge

For the toys food and clothes and for wiping your nose

There's no charge son

When you add it all up

The full cost of my love is no charge

Well when he finished reading

He had great big old tears in his eyes

And he looked up at me and he said

Mama I sure do love you

Then he took the pen

And in great big letters

He wrote paid in full

When you add it all up

The cost of real love is no charge