Bedtime Variations

[naomikritzer]

There's this book called I Love You Forever. It's either very funny or rather creepy, depending on how seriously you take it. It starts out with a mother singing a song to her new little baby and rocking him to sleep, and continues as he gets older until he's a grown-up and she's using an extension ladder to climb through his bedroom window and sing to him. My grandmother bought the book for Molly when she was two. Molly re-discovered it a couple of months ago and decided that at bedtime that night, she wanted me to hold her like a baby, rock her, and recite the song in the book.

In the book, the song goes like this: I love you forever, I like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.

Molly liked this and decided she wanted me to do it every night. Of course, there has yet to be a ritual that Molly can't think of improvements to, so it now goes like this:

I love you forever, I like you for always; as long as I'm living, your Mama I'll be.
I love you forever, I like you for always; as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.
I love you forever, I like you for always; as long as I'm living, my preschooler you'll be.
I love you forever, I like you for always; as long as I'm living, my Molly you'll be.

Then I have to sing it to Kiera, substituting "toddler" for "preschooler" (and "Kiera" for "Molly").

If I'll be out, I'm supposed to sing it before I go. Ed also recites a shorter version when he tucks them in.

Here's the best part: they also like to sing it to him. And they want him to sit on their laps, so he tries to accomodate. I just saw Kiera "rocking" Ed, saying, "I love you for always, as long as I'm living, Daddy you be."

Comments

[oneminutemonkey.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees the creepiness in that book. :>

Of course, I also see Good Night Moon as either a metaphor for death, or a kid's first apocalyptic bedtime story.... good night everyone indeed.

[squigsoup.livejournal.com]

The kids and I were watching Sesame Street once, which we rarely do, and Oscar was suggesting a list of bedtime stories to read to his pet worm Slimy. One of them was "Get Lost, Moon."

I perhaps find that more funny than I really should.

[naomikritzer]

"Get Lost, Moon." *snickers*

[corvis7.livejournal.com]

I have always found that book to be extremely creepy. I can't stand it.

However, since it lead to cute moments with your kids, it clearly can't be all bad.

[naomikritzer]

My mother also finds that book creepy. I told her this story today and she said she was going to have to come up with some alternative to that song the next time she babysits, because NO WAY is she singing anything from THAT BOOK.

[(Anonymous)]

My daughter made me sing variations on that song too after reading that book. It is somewhat creepy, but not in a way that my kids would get.

Joel

[naomikritzer]

Yeah, I think little kids totally love the idea that they'll always be their parents' baby, and that even when they're all grown up they'll still get held and rocked.

Adults read it and think, Holy shit, that lady has boundary issues.