by Robert Munsch
A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and
forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she
sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he
was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all
the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the
refrigerator and he took his mother's
watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would
say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"
But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened
the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the
side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and
rocked him back and forth,
back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew
until he was nine years old. And he never wanted to come in for
dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he
always said bad words.
Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!
But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened
the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over
the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she picked up that
nine-year-old boy and rocked him
back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked
him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he
was a teenager. He had strange friends and he wore strange clothes
and he listened to strange music. Sometimes the mother felt like she
was in a zoo!
But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother
opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up
over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep she picked up that
great big boy and rocked him
back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him
she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew
until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across
town. But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and
drove across town.
If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his
bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the
side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked
him up and rocked him back
and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him
she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older and
older. One day she called up her son and said, "You'd better come
see me because I'm very old and sick." So her son came to see her.
When he came in the door
she tried to sing the song. She sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always...
But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick. The son
went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth,
back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my Mommy you'll be.
When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at
the top of the stairs. Then he went into the room where his very new
baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very
slowly rocked her
back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked
her he sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.