Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch

[CalicoKat]

Does anyone else find the two pages where the now old mom drives across town with a ladder on her window, she climbs the window, crawls across the floor and rocks her son kind of creepy?

[La Condessa]

My husband always says that. I always looked at it as the sentiment of what every mother wishes she could still do. (Hold and rock her little boy, not sneak into his bedroom at night.)

[Denise in Florida]

Yes! My girls LOVED that book, probably because it made my cry everything I read it to them. When dd18 was a toddler she would bring the book and a tissue at the same time. :lol:

 

I kept telling my dh that that book makes me cry and he would not believe me. One evening the little rascals asked him to read it while I cooked dinner. HA HA :lol: He could not even finish it!

[MinivanMom]

YES! A mother breaking into her adult son's home at night to rock him is super-creepy.

 

But I find the whole book a little creepy. It seems like every stage of childhood is portrayed as some kind of horror the mom endures. She loves him in spite of how much she dislikes him and how miserable he makes her life. The book has always reminded me of the ugly, condescending comments I will occasionally get from older mothers, "If you think it's hard now, wait until they're . . . "(toddlers, teenagers, whatever stage can be held over me as something I haven't reached yet). I'm sorry you find motherhood so unpleasant and love your children in spite of how horrible they are, but some of us like our kids. It's not what I would consider a positive book about motherhood.

[Sophia]

Does anyone else find the two pages where the now old mom drives across town with a ladder on her window, she climbs the window, crawls across the floor and rocks her son kind of creepy?

 

Ds does~he warned me I better never do that :tongue_smilie:.

 

I never thought of anyone actually doing that though, just that it is a picture of how our dc will always be our babies.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Sophia
sp

[ChristyB in TN]

I have always found that book to be very, very creepy. :tongue_smilie:

[PinkInTheBlue]

Always have have found it terribly creepy. So does my husband. :)

[ChristyB in TN]

I love Shel Silverstein but also find a creepy factor in The Giving Tree. I own it, don't really like it. Read it to my kids when they were small anyway...

[Unicorn.]

I have always found that book to be very, very creepy. :tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree:

[PentecostalMom]

I never thought of anyone actually doing that though, just that it is a picture of how our dc will always be our babies.

 

I never thought of doing that, but since ds left for college, I can see how she feels. I miss him and though I know growing up and all that jazz is the natural course of life, it doesn't change the fact that he will always be my baby.

 

BTW, we love that book! I used to read it to ds every night, and he can still say that verse.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

Yeah, the thought of my MIL or ANY MIL, for that matter, practicing a little Breaking & Entering so she could cuddle and rock HER ADULT CHILD, which was TOTALLY pre-meditated,btw, since she drove across town with the darn ladder on the roof of her car, is.....how shall I say this?.....creepy. Pathological. She puts the 'funk' in Dysfunctional.

 

Not on MY watch, sister!! :glare:

[Chris in VA]

Never liked the book.

 

But, the last bit, where the boy is rocking his mother, makes me think of the very old and infirm, maybe a parent with Alzheimers or something, and I think that is poignant.

 

Still don't like it, tho.

[Supertechmom]

Does anyone else find the two pages where the now old mom drives across town with a ladder on her window, she climbs the window, crawls across the floor and rocks her son kind of creepy?

 

Mil gave me this book when oldest was little with gushes of how great it is and blah blah. I threw the hateful thing(book) out!!!! Horrible story.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

Mil gave me this book when oldest was little with gushes of how great it is and blah blah. I threw the hateful thing(book) out!!!! Horrible story.

 

 

That was evidence and should have been saved. That was a threat that she served up to you and could be admissable in a court of law. ;)

[Terabith]

I find it incredibly sweet, but yes! Very, VERY creepy.

[Stellalarella]

THis book is a great tool to demonstrate the insidiousness of bad parenting--as in, it "looks" like love, but really it is a codependent mother getting her fix.

The son needs to get a security system.

[Jennifer in SC]

I can see why some would find it creepy, but the story behind why he wrote the book is very sweet and sad. The song is for his two babies that were stillborn. :(

[ThatCyndiGirl]

I can see why some would find it creepy, but the story behind why he wrote the book is very sweet and sad. The song is for his two babies that were stillborn. :(

 

 

Awww! Well, joking aside, I can also see how the last part, him rocking his mother was sweet, too, as someone else said, indicative of eldercare. That part was sweet.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

THis book is a great tool to demonstrate the insidiousness of bad parenting--as in, it "looks" like love, but really it is a codependent mother getting her fix.

The son needs to get a security system.

 

Yep, and a Safety Plan.

[Negin]

Yeah, the thought of my MIL or ANY MIL, for that matter, practicing a little Breaking & Entering so she could cuddle and rock HER ADULT CHILD, which was TOTALLY pre-meditated,btw, since she drove across town with the darn ladder on the roof of her car, is.....how shall I say this?.....creepy. Pathological. She puts the 'funk' in Dysfunctional.

Not on MY watch, sister!! :glare:

:lol: Sing it sister! :smilielol5:

[Penelope]

Instead of creepy, I vote hilarious. :lol: We just giggle about that part.

 

The rest of the book is sweet.

[enviromommy]

I always found it to be a strange mix of totally creepy and incredibly moving. The driving across town is icky, but the end has me in a flood of tears.

 

Another creepy overbearing parent book is The Runaway Bunny. Does anyone else find that one to be disturbing? No matter what you do, no matter where you run, you can't get away from your mother??

[Sophia]

 

Another creepy overbearing parent book is The Runaway Bunny. Does anyone else find that one to be disturbing? No matter what you do, no matter where you run, you can't get away from your mother??

 

Well, that's actually true. I moved 5 states away and my mom followed me within 6 months. :svengo:

[happi duck]

...I always looked at it as the sentiment of what every mother wishes she could still do. (Hold and rock her little boy, not sneak into his bedroom at night.)

 

:iagree:

[8circles]

I appreciate the sentiment behind it but I vote incredibly creepy.

[JennifersLost]

Yeah - runaway bunny bugs the heck out of me. Give the kid some space for heaven's sake! :lol:

[Amber in SJ]

I can't make it through that book without crying. I don't find it creepy because I don't see it as real life. I don't know anyone who would drive across town to rock their adult child, but I do know many moms who, when their adult children are away, wish to feel that closeness. I also love the way the child cares for his elderly mother and then passes along the loving care to his child.

 

As an aside, almost two years ago when a young man (19) at our church was leaving to go on his mission (two years away from family) he gave a talk. He used the format of "Love You Forever" but personalized it to his life....

 

That boy grew and he grew and he grew

He played loud music

And ate all the food in the house without asking if it was for dinner

And he locked his mom out of the car in the grocery store parking lot!

 

He put in all the silly & naughty things he did as a child. When he got to the parts with the song there was not a mom in the audience who was not sniffling, some of the dads too. He talked about going away and being nervous about going, but knowing how much his mom loved him was making it possible for him to go. I will always think of that sweet young man when I read that book. Not creepy at all.

 

I wish my MIL wanted to metaphorically nurture my Dh, all she wants is to know what he is going to do for her and when is he going to do it, but that is her own personality disorder talking and she is not capable of it. Definitely not the kind of love I see portrayed in the book.

 

Amber in SJ

[missmoe]

I love it. My dh finds it creepy.

[kewb]

That books make me cry every time. I read it to both of kids when they were little. Sometimes, ds (13) will pull it out for me to read. When I tuck them in at night I always tell them that I love them forever, I like them for always, and as long as I'm living my baby you'll be. My ds knows I won't be driving across town with a ladder when he is an adult. I fully expect him to give me a key to the house. ;)

 

I can see where it has a creep factor but most little kids find it comforting that no matter what, mom will be there.

[Ipsey]

Yick!

I'm so glad I'm the only person who is not fond of this book.

A friend gave it to my children several years ago for Christmas. None of them liked it; I was so glad. I gave it to Goodwill a year later.

 

I loved his Paper Bag Princess, though!

[TechWife]

Creepy.

[cin]

Never liked the book.

 

But, the last bit, where the boy is rocking his mother, makes me think of the very old and infirm, maybe a parent with Alzheimers or something, and I think that is poignant.

 

Still don't like it, tho.

 

Brings dear MIL to mind. Dh drove to the assisted living place to bring her to our house for Christmas, She can barely walk, and as DH worked with her to get her from the car to the wheelchair, I actually did think of this book.

 

But I still don't like it either.

[dirty ethel rackham]

 

I always looked at it as the sentiment of what every mother wishes she could still do. (Hold and rock her little boy, not sneak into his bedroom at night.)

:iagree:

[LizzyBee]

That was one of our favorite books when my kids were little. I don't think it's creepy because I don't take it literally.

[Word Nerd]

I think that scene is funny in a tongue-in-cheek way and don't get why people take it so seriously. That said, I'm not a big fan of the book.

[Guest submarines]

I think that scene is funny in a tongue-in-cheek way and don't get why people take it so seriously. That said, I'm not a big fan of the book.

 

:iagree:I really don't get the Munch craze. :confused:

[In the Rain]

THis book is a great tool to demonstrate the insidiousness of bad parenting--as in, it "looks" like love, but really it is a codependent mother getting her fix.

The son needs to get a security system.

 

:lol:

 

I find the whole book bizarre.

[Julie Smith]

My dh found it morbid. He didn't like the line,"as long as I'm living"

 

It took it to mean, "as long as I'm living, (an I might croak any minute - then I will be dead and no one will love you.")

[whitestavern]

I have always found that book to be very, very creepy. :tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree:

[swellmomma]

I have never thought of it as creepy. But I will tell you that I can never read past the baby stage of that book without crying. I always loved that book, but several years ago a friend was in a horrible car wreck that killed her 2 children and her boyfriend. At the children's funeral she read that story to them, she said it would be her final bedtime story to them. I had to stop reading it to my own kids, because everytime I start reading it I start crying thinking of her reading it at the funeral of her children. I can guarantee that if she thought she would be able to climb a ladder into her son's room (or daughter's) and see them as adults and still rock them and sing to them she would do it in a heartbeat.

[Audrey]

I think that if you can understand the quirky wit of Robert Munsch and the context of this book in his entire oeuvre, then it is not at all creepy, but rather an expressed depiction of the yearning a mother has to always know her child and be there not only in the hardest moments, but in every moment. It is also a poignant expression of the loss of love only a mother can give.

 

I think that looking for creep factor in children's books is as useful an exercise as trying to find homophobic references in Bert and Ernie sketches or looking for the Satanic symbol on a Teletubby's head.

Edited December 27, 2011 by Audrey

[abacus2]

It weirded me out completely when I read it. I'm pretty sure I threw it away.:001_huh:

[HSMom2One]

My husband always says that. I always looked at it as the sentiment of what every mother wishes she could still do. (Hold and rock her little boy, not sneak into his bedroom at night.)

 

Yes, this is how I have always taken it, exactly! I love that book and I cry every time I read it. (So does my bff, by the way.)

 

No matter what stage, age or circumstances -- it's all about how mothers love their sons even though we have to keep an appropriate distance when they reach a certain age, and then we finally have to let go and launch them into manhood. Our hearts still love them just as much as when they were little babes/tykes that depended on us. As an older mom with grown sons, I can totally, totally relate to those feelings.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[HSMom2One]

I think that if you can understand the quirky wit of Robert Munsch and the context of this book in his entire oeuvre, then it is not at all creepy, but rather an expressed depiction of the yearning a mother has to always know her child and be there not only in the hardest moments, but in every moment. It is also a poignant expression of the loss of love only a mother can give.

 

I think that looking for creep factor in children's books is as useful an exercise as trying to find homophobic references in Bert and Ernie sketches or looking for the Satanic symbol on a Teletubby's head.

 

You've nailed it, Audrey! And your comment on the creep factor just about made me blow my drink out my nose as I laughed. Good one!!

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[DianeW88]

I have always found that book to be very, very creepy. :tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree:I have never read that book to any of my kids.