I hate that feeling.

You know the one I’m talking about.

The one where you have to let your child go out on their own (gasp). The thought of separation can be a scary thing whether it be sending her off to preschool, a long-distance field trip, camp, or worse – sending her off in a car. Driving. Alone. By herself.

So as I sit here on the Find My Friends app, following the icon that is my newly driving on her own sixteen-year-old (don’t judge), I find myself thinking about a book she used to love.

It was a book both of my girls wanted me to read all the time. It was probably because I used to sing part of it. Despite my off-pitch and out of tune voice, they loved it. But honestly, I found it to be a little, well…creepy.

The book I’m referring to is Robert Munsch’s Love You Forever and when I say creepy, you probably understand what I’m referring to.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful and beautifully illustrated story about the love and dedication of a mother who may or may not be borderline stalkish (Yes, it is a word – Urban Dictionary said so). I  totally relate to sneaking into your kids room as they sleep. I mean, what mother doesn’t? I still do and my kids are teenagers. Maybe I don’t pick them up and rock them back and forth, but I do check to make sure they’re still breathing.

It’s a mother thing.

Which had me wondering, how and why would a man write a crazy, stalkish book about a mother? Did he have a crazy, stalkish mother? Was he married to a crazy, stalkish mother? I had to know so I did some heavy-duty research (Googled it) and found an answer that actually surprised me.

According to his website, www.robertmunsch.com (a really cool website filled with facts you probably never knew), Robert Munsch and his wife, Anne, experienced the pain of two stillborn babies. The book, Love You Forever, was actually a song he wrote for the babies. He couldn’t bring himself to sing it because each time he did, he would break down and cry. Eventually, he turned the song into a book. After it was published, Munsch discovered that his book was a big hit in retirement communities. It appeared that not only were parents buying it for children, but adults were buying it as gifts for other adults, too.

Knowing what I now know about the origins of this book, I see it in a totally new light. The amount of love we parents have for our children can be so great that at times, it may cause us to do some crazy things, like stalking your teenage driver on the Find My Friends App or sneaking into your child’s room as she sleeps to make sure she’s still breathing.

So tonight, when I tuck my girls into bed, I just may sing:

“I’ll love you forever,
I’ll like you for always,
As long as I’m living
My baby you’ll be.”

And if they happen to think I’m a little cray-cray now, just wait until they go to college!