Love you forever

There is freshly fallen snow here. It's beautiful, but quite frankly I have grown disgusted with the cold. My persistence in complaining about it is futile. I realize that Mother Nature and I don't see eye to eye regarding the weather in the Midwest. If all I had to do was sit by the window and bask in the beauty of the crystals twinkling in the sunlight, I would be happy. However, I have duties as leader of this household--slacking off is not an option.

Man-cub languidly clomped down the stairs . With a slump in his gait, I awaited him with open arms, "let momma give the little man hugs." Standing, he fell into my embrace and declared, "little man who is taller than his momma, you mean." UGH! Too much reality before caffeine had been injected.

Today is my day off. On the days I don't have to primp and preen for work, I take the Man-cub to school. With temperatures being as low as they are (-2F), I didn't want to make him stand in the even more bitter cold wind waiting for the big yellow school bus to arrive.

We made our way out the front door. I followed behind my gentle giant of a child; looking down to see the size of his shoe prints in the glistening white stuff on the sidewalk. He's 13 years old, 7th grade. To me, he's just a child; yet, my foot is engulfed within the imprint of his size 14 shoe. His stride is wide, and I felt as if I was doing lunges Billy Blank/Tae Bo style to keep up. I didn't mention it to him as we made our way to the garage.

While driving, I looked down at the length of my fingers. Again, my own hand dwarfed by the size of my newly inducted to teen-hood Man-cub. I remained silent on the matter. I fought back a wayward tear.

Love You Forever is a must have for any parent. I originally saw this book over 15 years ago. I purchased two copies: One for my sister Maureen who has 2 sons, and one for sister Mary who had lost her only son...also my Godson.

When I had my son, I was given a copy. I would read it to Man-cub regularly. He loved it. I'd put my own melody to the words of the song the mommy sings to her little boy. She rejoices, "I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." The author, Robert Munsch tells on his website how the song actually came before the book. His wife had had 2 still borns and that was the song he sang to the children he'd never know. His emotional refrain eventually became the book. On his site, you can download the author reading the story and singing the song. The melody I sang to my son is slightly different--probably due to the tightening of my throat of fighting the tears.