Thursday, September 6, 2012

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.

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Me and Evan

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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.

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Evan
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Brody

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

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Evan ~ 1 Year

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Brody ~ 1 Year
He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house.

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Evan ~ 2 Years

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

He pulled all the books off the shelves. 

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Evan loved pulling our movies off the shelf. 

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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!"

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Evan
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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.

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Evan

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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
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13 comments:

  1. I loved this post. That is one of my all time favorite books!

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    1. Yes, it is a great book for moms of boys! I actually owe Naomi for giving it to me before Evan was born. :-)

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  2. I love that book. I can't read it without shedding some serious tears. I love this post. I also shed some serious tears while reading it.

    P.S. All the pictures are great, but OMG, Evan is cute in that one where he is asleep on the pillow.

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    1. Yep, that's one of my favs of Evan. He was about Brody's age at the time. :-)

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  3. This is the sweetest post Sherry. How beautiful. I hope you print this one off special for them to have when they get older. Makes this hormonal mommy want to boo hoo at her desk.

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    1. It is a great book for moms of boys. Kelly from Kelly's Korner did this for her girls with a book called Little Mommy so you might like that for Does. I also love the song In my daughter's eyes" by Martina McBride for moms of girls. I used it in my niece's birth video. :-)

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    2. Dos...apparently my phone does not recognize Spanish words and changes them! ;-)

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  4. Oh, I love how you've done this. I have to admit that I don't resonate with that book very much but looking at your pictures interspersed among the words brought tears to my eyes. Maybe Robert Munsch should have just gotten you to illustrate it instead.

    BTW, Robert Munsch is a local author around here and I've heard him read several times. It is always a treat.

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    1. Well, I did get the idea from a smart lady! ;-) I love the beginning of the book more than the end. It sounds a little stalkish for a mom to climb through her grown sons window to watch him sleep but who knows--I might be that mom! ;-)

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    2. I think that's why I don't like the book. The mom feels all stalkish to me too! But I do love how the son rocks the mom at the end. It is so sweet to see it all come full circle. It's just the middle which I don't like :)

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  5. Oh I love this book!!! And I love this post!! My older daughter bought this book for our younger daughter when she was about two. She read it to her all the time. She would say, I know its a Mommy telling her child she would love him forever.... well, I am your sister and I want you to know I will love you forever too. Sis always loved that book. And when she had to do her first speech contest... that is the book she used. Now, the little sister is 19 and the older is 27.... and they love each other very very much!!! I still read it to my youngest, who can read it himself, but he loves to hear me read it!! Love it!! Have a great weekend!!

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    1. Oh that is awesome about your daughters, Piper! I hope Evan will read it to Brody one day. He tells Brody sweetly all the time that he will always love him and be with him. I just love sibling love, don't you? :-)

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