The Easter Surprise

Easter 2008 was spent with Unsinkable and her husband, Dave, the Tazmanian Tot, and Little Dave. My wonderfully indulgent husband, Tim, hauled our Easter gift to Forth Worth and then was dubbed the “Carrier of the Gift.”

You see, I got the bright idea to give my Tot and her brother, Little Dave, two little ducklings for Easter. My co-worker LOVED my idea and proceeded to track down a store that carried ducklings (Tractor Supply Co) and sent her mom to pick them up for me. She not only picked up two ducks, but got the man to cut open a 50 pound bag of food and scoop out enough to fill a one gallon zip-lock bag. Then she picked up a little water dish, found a box and brought the ducks to the office. Yeah, you read that correctly. The OFFICE. We had two little ducklings peeping their scared little hearts out. Thank goodness we didn’t have any appointments. After about 30 minutes, Tim stopped by the office to pick them up and take them home to the tub. (you gotta love a man who will do that- ya know?) AND he never said anything … he just laughed and told me that the Tot was gonna love ‘em.

The cat wasn’t as understanding as Tim. She stood watch over the ducklings . . . most of the night. She couldn’t quite figure them out – do ya eat ‘em, swat ‘em, or ignore ‘em? I think she tried all three.

Well, Saturday’s three hour trip to Unsinkable’s house went by quietly. As long as the little “quackers” could keep us in their sight, they were fine. In fact, they went to sleep and we didn’t hear another “peep” out of them until we arrived. Tim carried the laundry basket that held the ducks while I knocked on the door. The Tot answered with, “ NANA and TIMFISH you’re here! Didyoubringmeapresent?” (She says TIMFISH all in one breath along with the present sentence – complete with a big grin on her face.)

You should have seen her face light up when she saw what was in the basket. She was transfixed. We had to take them outside and those little ducks toddled all over the back yard chasing us and peeping and pooping. Yeah, there was a LOT of that stuff. But she learned not to eat it, not to squeeze the necks, and last but not least, she learned that you don’t hold them up by their little paddle feet.

Tim and I were exhausted. But it was worth every minute.

The only thing I would suggest any would-be duck buyers . . . check with your homeowners association to make sure that you can keep ducks. Yup. You guessed it. We found out today that the Unsinkable’s association defines ducks as “exotic pets.” So, they now have a new home – the lake two blocks away and Unsinkable can take the Tot and little Dave to see them any time they want. Whew.

A happy ending to a happy Easter.

ps. Nanas get one “bone-head” idea per grandchild and I think I might have used both of mine up in one fell swoop. But it was worth it.