Mama Duck

It's springtime, one of my favorite times of year. The grass is green, the weather is beautiful, the ducks and all their little ducklings are out at the park waiting for us to share a tasty treat with them. As we've visited the ducks a few times this week, I've noticed something.

First of all, we see Mama Duck and a flock of little quackers following her everywhere she goes. Where's Daddy? Chillin' on the pond. She devotedly leads them across the pond, onto the grass, out to get a snack, back in the water, always alert and ready to protect them from any harm. She's calm under pressure for the most part, but every now and then, she'll trip over one of her darlings one too many times and her wings start flapping; her voice starts wailing, "QUACK, QUAAAACKKKK! QU QU QU AAAACKKKKK!" as if to say, "GET OUT OF MY WAY, you little STINKER! I am doing the best I can here, and YOU need to GIVE ME SOME SPACE!!" I feel her pain. I know I'm putting "words" in the Mama Duck's "quack," but I think I understand her quite well.

This week (spring break) has been amazing. I LOVE my kids so, so much. Like Mama Duck, I take my ducklings everywhere; I show them the world the best I can; I protect them; I love them; I stay calm most of the time. They FOLLOW me everywhere. Literally. Do I take a shower alone? No. Do I pee alone? No. Do I cook dinner alone? Well, I don't really cook, but I prepare, and NO, I don't do that alone either. There are always 3 sweet little babies under my feet. I turn - I step on someone. I turn the other way - I step on someone else. It's wonderful and exhausting all at once.

I love being a Mama Duck, even if it makes me a little crazy sometimes. I might lose my cool occasionally, but I love my little ducklings more than anything in the world.