Ouch, my heart. Michael Bublé's video about kids growing up is wrecking parents everywhere
Cue the full-on ugly cry.
There are songs that tug at your heartstrings and videos that tap into your soft side. And then there are combos of the two that get you so far up in your feelings, you're not sure if you'll ever be able to climb back out.
For the millions of parents out there—especially the ones watching their babies grow up and move away from home—Michael Bublé's video for his song "Forever Now" is definitely the latter. I'm not even a Michael Bublé fan, but as a parent whose first baby just turned 19, the lyric video showing the years passing in a child's bedroom with a song about kids growing up is almost too much to take.
Wrecked, I tell you. Full-on ugly crying, with the puffy eyes and the snotty nose and everything.
I mean, just check out part of the lyrics and imagine your child's bedroom all packed into boxes:
I tuck you in at night
Another day has passed
Every week goes by a little faster than the last
It wasn't so long ago
We walked together and you held my hand
And now you're getting too big to want to
STOP IT, MICHAEL BUBLÉ. You stop it right now. What are you trying to do to us? Why are you being so mean? Kids grow up and move away and we all know it. And here you are rubbing it in while we watch our hearts walk out the door and into a life of their own and I SIMPLY CANNOT TAKE IT.
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Seriously, if Kleenex were smart, they'd pay Bublé a gazillion dollars and just make this video their entire ad campaign. This is the whole commercial right here, just this video with three simple words added to the end: "Need a Kleenex?"
YES, I NEED A KLEENEX, KLEENEX. I NEED ALLLL THE KLEENEXES, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
In all seriousness, though, raising children into adulthood is a long game, and as you approach the finish line there are so many emotions that hit you. You are proud, scared, excited, worried, relieved, sad, grateful, and heartbroken—sometimes all within the same hour. You look back and wonder where the time went, even though in the thick of it it sometimes felt like forever. You kick yourself over things you wish you'd done differently, but realize by now that there's so much you don't have control over as a parent.
Mostly, you simply marvel at this human being you helped create, mold, and nurture, and wonder how you could possibly have had a hand in making something so beautiful.
For the parents dropping off kids at college or helping them move into their first apartment, this is it. This is when all those years of love and sacrifice and hard work and I-don't-know-what-the-hell-I'm-doing all come to fruition. This is when the rubber hits the road and you hope and pray that you've given your child the foundation and tools they need to build an adult life.
That's the practical side, which is daunting enough on its own. But then there's the emotional side, which is all "WAAAAAH. MY BABY IS ALL GROWN UP AND LIFE IS MOVING TOO FAST AND I FEEL LIKE MY HEART MIGHT LITERALLY EXPLODE."
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Good times, this parenting gig. I kind of hate Michael Bublé for doing this to us, but I'm also thankful for the opportunity to purge some of those feelings into my ginormous box of Kleenex.
Grab a tissue—or five—and enjoy the catharsis, parents.
Michael Bublé - Forever Now [Official Lyric Video]youtu.be