Dear daughter I tiptoed to your room tonight
And I looked down at you smiling in your sleep
You were so lovely my heart nearly broke
And I thought how very much like sleeping beauty a little girl is
When I tuck you in at night I never know how old you'll be when you wake
One evening you crawl on your dad's lap and throw your arms around his neck
The next morning you might be much too grownup for that sort of thing
You're so quickly approachin' my awkward age
Too young to drive a car and yet too old to be carried
Into the house half asleep on daddy's shoulder
I have a secret that I've never told you Sleeping Beauty
You're going on a very exciting trip
You'll travel from yesterday all the way to tomorrow
It's a rapid journey and you'll travel light
Leavin' behind your measles mumps freckles bumps bubblegum and me
I promise not to feel too hurt when you discover
That the world is more important than your daddy's lap
Yesterday you were blue-jeaned and pig-tailed the neighborhood's best tree-climber
Tomorrow you'll be blue-organdie and ponny-tailed
And you'll view the world from a loftier perch a pair of high-heel shoes
Yesterday you could mend a doll's broken leg with a hug
Tomorrow you'll be able to break a young man's heart with a kiss
Ha ha yesterday you could get lost one aisle away from me in a supermarket
Now I have to worry about losin' you down another aisle to some strange young man
You see just at the point where your growing pains stop mine begin
Yesterday you were kind of a pain in the neck when you were around
Tomorrow you'll be an ache in my heart when you're not