Love You Forever

I got this idea from one of my favorite bloggers, Natasha, who recently did a post about one of her favorite children's books with her own pictures as illustrations.  This book is definitely one of my favorite books about mothering little boys so I thought it would be great to use.

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

Me and Evan

Me and Brody

And while she held him, she sang:

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be.

Evan

Brody

The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. 

Evan ~ 1 Year

Brody ~ 1 Year

He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house.

Evan ~ 2 Years

Brody ~ Not quite 2 but definitely running all over the house!

He pulled all the books off the shelves. 

Evan loved pulling our movies off the shelf. 

And Brody loves pulling Evan's books off the shelf. 

He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet.
Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"

Evan

Brody

But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

Evan

Brody

While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be.

The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew.



He grew until he was [five] years old. And he never wanted to come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!

But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed.



If he was really asleep, she picked up that [five]-year-old boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be.

The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a teenager. He had strange friends and he wore strange clothes and he listened to strange music. Sometimes the mother felt like she was in a zoo!

But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be.

My boys and I. 

That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town. But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town.  If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be.

Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older and older. One day she called up her son and said, "You'd better come see me because I'm very old and sick." So her son came to see her. When he came in the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always...

But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick. The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my Mommy you'll be.

When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at the top of the stairs. Then he went into the room where his very new baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be.

Dear Evan and Brody:  You will always be my babies, and I will always be your mommy no matter how old you get!  I hope you always remember that!  I'll love you forever!

Love,

Mommy