Love You Forever

Let me just start out by saying if my mother-in-law ever drives all the way to our house in the middle of the night, sneaks into my room, picks up my husband, and rocks him in the rocking chair while singing, I will personally write an apology letter to the author of this book for publicly dissing it... after I get over my case of the giggles.  But until then...

I was recently at a resale shop where I purchase most of our children's books.  They are so reasonably priced, and the money goes toward a great cause.  I came across one called Love You Forever .  It seemed like I had heard of it as a really sweet book before, so I went ahead and placed it in my pile.  Aidan (5) picked it out the other night to read before bedtime, and it started off well.  The mommy rocks her baby and sings him a sweet song, and then she sneaks in to rock him and sing when he's a 9-year-old, then she sneaks in when he's a teenager, and so on, going on until he is grown and moves to a house across town.  THEN, "sometimes on dark nights, the mother got in her car and drove across town" with a giant ladder strapped to the top of her car in order to sneak into her grown son's upstairs window and rock him.  What?!?!  As a mother, I greatly appreciate the quiet moments when I get to hold or rock one of my children.  Those are some of the sweetest moments I've ever known.  I guess I just always assumed that those moments would look a little different by the time my children are in their 30's.  Plus, I'm not very comfortable on a 10 ft. ladder, especially while wearing my grandma nightgown.

If this is one of your favorite children's books, I apologize for the negativity.  I  just find it a bit strange.  I do love the "enduring nature of parents' love and how it crosses generations" (according to the back of the book), but I think I will just strive for a little different technique as my children age.  :)  I will still keep Love You Forever and read it when it's requested.  Aidan seemed to like it, as he requested it again the following night.  And don't worry, I didn't express my thoughts to him.  Attempting to purchase books with three children (5 & under) in tow is a challenge.  I don't really have time to read through them, so sometimes it's just a gamble.  Another one we ended up getting was Where In The Zoo Are You?  Since we had just recently been to the zoo, I thought it would surely be a great hit.  Turns out, it's a personalized book all about Breanne from Southlake going to the zoo with her Grandpa Cory!  Oh well!