I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
I always change the third line because I truly believe that family relationships go beyond this life and so when I read this book to my children I say:
I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always,
For time and forever
my baby you'll be.
As her baby grows, the mother continues to sneak in her son's bedroom and rock her little boy back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Even when her growing boy became a teenager and later an adult she would crawl across his floor, pick up her great big boy, and rock him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth singing softly:
I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always,
For time and forever
my baby you'll be.
Perhaps because of this book, I like to grab my daughters occasionally and ATTEMPT to rock them back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. My lap doesn't hold them very well but it satisfies my mother-longing--to remind them that I will ALWAYS love them and they will ALWAYS be my baby.
Well, Wednesday night after American Idol, (side note: I LOVED Scotty and Lauren's performances) I was flipping through the channels to see if there was something worthwhile watching as I continued working on a top. secret. young. woman. project. (Don't you want to know what it is? Details will follow!)
I came across the Baby Channel. This is not a channel I would typically watch, but the title intrigued me: Sweet Dreams. Don't we all need sweet dreams?
I pushed "Enter" on my remote control and lovely, soothing patterns and swirls moved across the screen with an occasional caterpillar, or bird, or butterfly accompanied by soothing, classical-type music.
I was hooked!
OK, not really, but it sent those mother-longings to my heart and so I attempted to put Emily on my lap so I could rock her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
However, she would not COOPERATE!
She became as stiff as a board. I shimmied her long legs under my lap with great difficulty. As she arched her back we heard a thwunk. Emily hit her barrette clad head on the end table.
"Emily, I NEED to rock you back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. This Sweet Dreams program is calling to my mother heart!"
"I don't want to be rocked back and forth, back and forth, back and forth," she replied with a giggle.
I shimmied her stiff legs a little more over my lap.
Thwunk! She hit her head on the end table again. This was getting a little dangerous.
"Emily, Sweet Dreams is SHOUTING to my mother heart. I MUST rock you back and forth, back and forth, back and forth."
"Oh, Mom!" she laughed.
I shimmied her a little more on my lap. By this time we were laughing so hard that tears were streaming down our face. After one more thwunk, she was finally satisfactorily on my lap and I proceeded to rock her until my legs went numb. Maybe 30 seconds tops. That's all my mother heart and lap could stand. When did she get so big?
Someday, when I'm old and I can no longer hold my four darling daughters, I hope they gather me in their arms and sing:
I'll love you forever,.
I'll like you for always,
For time and for always
my Mommy you'll be
HAHAHAHA. I want to sit on your lap! I remember the good old days of sitting on your lap.... especially when you were trying to read a book or the newspaper. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't read those books right now or probably ever. Have you read the one called "Someday"? It is painful beyond belief! The girls always ask me to read it because they know I'll bawl like a baby.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read "Someday." That's one I'll have to check out. You MUST read "Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch." I cry EVERY single time.
ReplyDeleteOh we have that one. It doesn't make me cry at all! It's just the "children growing up and moving away" ones that really get me.
ReplyDeleteIt's called "Someday" by Alison McGhee. I hope you like it! (hee hee hee)
ReplyDeleteYou need some grand-children. STAT!
ReplyDelete