The Case of the Dastardly Duck

On a cold, dark night....in a dark and dangerous alley...a creature lurked behind a large crate, awaiting the opportunity to pounce on its prey... an innocent little boy who was simply trying to figure out what this strange and mysterious creature was...

Turns out it was a duck. Oh and it was a warm sunshiney day on BYU Campus. I brought my Boy over to the fountains near the Bell Tower to eat a sandwich, maybe see some ducks, and to just be outside. Boy's first time meeting ducks--should be fun for him! I thought. So I threw a couple of pieces of crust to the ducks to try to lure them closer for the Boy to see. After a couple of bites of his own, the Boy would look at me, then the ducks, then at me and back at the ducks. He pointed at one of the ducks (his new thing--pointing) and I saw the duck reach towards him. He began to cry, so I told him about ducks and how they wanted to share his sandwich. As he reached for another piece of sandwich from me, I wondered why his fingers were so dirty. "Weird," I thought. Then he turned to point at the duck again.

This time I saw it: The duck actually nipped his finger! BIT HIM! My poor boy! (that's why his finger was dirty, the duck had bit him already!) He cried harder than before, so I scooped him up in my arms and told him we wouldn't feed those ducks anymore. Then I pointed at the ducks and said, "Go away you mean ducks!" The Boy was happier with this response--even giggled. This seemed to give him confidence again because he wiggled down from my arms and started following the ducks down the sidewalk, making a noise all the while of "Qua! Qua! Qua!"

Smart Boy! I didn't teach him what a duck says, but he picked it up from them himself. (Honey was very impressed as he listened over the phone....)

We won't give up on feeding the ducks--we'll just be a little wary next time we go.