Love You Forever

In an effort to shake up the nightly book routine {one can read “Snowy Day” and “One Mitten” so many times}, Ethan and I scoured the bookshelf for some new reads. Ethan picked out “Love You Forever“. He thought it was funny with the baby on the front playing with the toilet paper.

I have to be honest. I had never read it before the other night. I knew it was a “classic” but we just had not gotten around to reading it. Ethan and I piled into his bed and began to read.

It starts out innocently enough. A new mother rocking her baby to sleep and singing…

“I’ll love you forever
I’ll like you for always
As long as I’m living
My baby you’ll be.”

Sweet, right?

Let’s continue.

The baby grew. And grew some more. Soon we see mother crawling into her two-year-old’s room to check on him. I get it, we’ve all done. Not too creepy. Not yet anyway.

Pretty soon that little baby is now a little boy. Mom is still stalker creeping into his room to hold him and rock him while he’s sleeping. Creepy yet? Let’s keep going.

Mom’s not stopping her stalking. Oh no, here’s a grown teenage boy with his mother peering into his room on her hands and knees. I am officially creeped out at this point.

And here is where dear old mom turns into every woman’s nightmare. The Mother In Law. The “boy” moves out and across town {smart move on his part} but that doesn’t stop stalker mom from driving across town…

…and breaking into his room in the middle of night to rock him to sleep.
Creep to the e!
Now our story takes a turn for the worse. Mom calls sonny boy to tell him that she’s sick. Now it was his turn to rock his mother {and leads you to believe that she dies}. He sings the song to her and comforts her.
When the son arrives back home, he goes into his own baby girl’s room and picks her up to rock her to sleep. And so the stalker cycle has continued! Oh and there’s no mention of the wife/mother. What is up with that?
Don’t get me wrong. The story has a good message. “You will always be my baby.” But it’s just plain creepy! Is it me? Tell me I am not the only one who has thought this about this book.
Needless to say, this book has been put back up on the shelf and there it will stay until I do our next book purge!

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16 Comments

  1. oh my gosh! Ok so we have 2 of these books (not by choice). My husband's grandmother used to always read it to him apparently. I thought nothing of it (i hadn't read it yet). She gave my daughter the old book she would read and then another grandmother gave her a copy as well for easter. Finally I read it. What the heck?! It is super creepy! I have put it back on the shelf and will not be reading it again anytime soon!

  4. Totally with you on the creep factor, but I think it is balanced a little by the fact that the sentiment is so sweet. Eh, ok it's mostly just creepy….LOL!

  5. HAHAHAHAHA! I would have never thought of the book that way! I liked the message & it has made me a little teary eyed. you are funny.

  6. I think the idea of her sneaking in is classic Munsch. He's silly and goofy and was making light of what can be a tough idea – growing up. The idea of leaving home and not having your parent there to rock you to sleep as a child is scary and he was making it a little fun while also reminding kids they will be always be loved.

  7. YES! Creepy!! I love the little song, it's very cute. But the mother rocking the adult son, and then the son rocking the mother?! Creeps me right out. My best friend and I had a big discussion about it not long ago.

  8. Oh, I have never thought of it as creepy. I literally cannot read this book without bawling. I think it is actually very sweet and can be used to teach our kids that one day things will probably turn around and you will be taking care of me but even when that day happens I will still love you forever and my baby you will always be.

  10. I read this book to my children all the time. I never got the creeps by doing so. I always looked at the book as, we as moms will always be there to care for our children. No matter the age. I always looked at the "rocking" as smybolic of the mother just always being there. And it is also a reminder that our children will grow up and hopefully be able to take care of our needs when we come to that place in our lives. Besides the fact that the book always made me cry.

  12. I've never read it but this is so totally creepy – I TOTALLY agree with you!! It is touching at some level but the stalking and the adult holding and cradling is just bizarre. There MUST be a better way to say that, you know? Of course, now I must go get a copy for myself to be either a) totally creeped out b) bawl or c) all of the above.

  13. Hmmm, I’ve never read this one. Perhaps it is meant to be symbolic? Mom will always be “rocking” her dear boy in her heart. And he will return that love. Similar to the way parents lay awake nights worrying about their kiddos even after they are grown. But I can see why it might seem a bit creepy.

  14. Yes, it’s you.

    Thare is nothing creepy about this book. It is fiction.

  15. Aww I’m a little sad on your view on this book! I guess it has so much sentimental value to me, it was the first book I ever read to my first baby and I cried the whole way through. I’m a huge Robert Munsch fan and I think the message behind this story isn’t creepy at all, that adjective never crossed my mind once. That’s okay though, to each their own!

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