"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. " -Helen Keller

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

SHOW AND TELL: the Damn Duck

I'd like to introduce you to the world's fugliest stuffed duck...
Not only does this duck have some of the most gawd-awful bright colored clothes, but he is one of those cheap, hard stuffed animals you get at bad fair games. This duck's bad looks are not even redeemed by him being soft and cuddly. This duck has belonged to Marty since he was only 2 years old. The funny thing is that the duck's fugly appearance isn't the most unique thing about him. This duck's most unique quality is his name. To do the name justice, I have to tell you a short story.

When Marty was about 2, we joined some friend's of ours for an evening of mah-johng and adult company. The 6 adults hung out in the dining room and had some wine and played mah-johng and the 7 kids ran rampant through the house. You can only imagine the mess by the end of the night. At some point, Marty showed up with that duck and declared that he couldn't live with out it. My friend Chris *generously gave it to him. However, by the end of the evening, Marty had lost the duck somewhere in the house. The only way we could get Marty to calm down and willingly go home was to have Chris promise to look for the duck over the weekend and I promised we would stop by and **pick it up on the way home from work.

The next Monday, Chris called me just before I left work and told me that she had found the duck. As Marty and I were walking out to the car, I said to him, "Aunt Chris found the duck."
And, Marty started chanting, "Aunt Chris found the duck." The bad thing is that Marty was in a stage where he wanted me to answer him by saying to him EXACTLY what he said to me and, if I didn't answer him that way, he got louder and more insistent. By the 13th time he chanted "Aunt Chris found the duck", I felt myself snap. As I opened my mouth to answer him, I knew it was the wrong thing to say but I couldn't stop myself. I said, "Yes, Aunt Chris found the damn duck." And, Marty promptly launched into a volley of "AuntChrisfoundthedamnduck AuntChrisfoundthedamnduck AuntChrisfoundthedamnduck etc.etc.etc." Now, you know how the duck was christened Damn Duck and how my son learned his first curse word.

*I know she let him have it so she didn't have to look at it anymore.
**I worked as a nanny and Marty came to work with me.

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I also wanted to show you this short 40 second video of the storm we had come through the other night. Nature is just awe inspiring.

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To see what everyone else in class is bringing to SHOW AND TELL, take a trip to visit the Miss Mel, Goddess of the Infertility Blogosphere.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha! Could be quite a bit worse, though...my friend realized her kid learned the f-word when she heard him say "f-ing Yale" (a phrase she was prone to say at the time) in the backseat of the car.

"Damn"'s not so bad! ;)

Michelle said...

OMG that is one ugly duck and one crazy intense storm. Isn't funny how kids always zero in on the one word you were not suppose to say. LOL

AnotherDreamer said...

That is one ugly duckling. Thanks for sharing the story, lol.

The storm looked really scary, wow.

Anonymous said...

He looks like Howard the Duck. Remember that ridiculous movie?

Shelly- Mom Files said...

wow I just love the duck story!! It was a pretty stanky little thing~lol! What great footage of the storm. I love watching the rain :)

MrsSpock said...

That is one fugly duck. I think he's wearing MC Hammer's pants.

Naughty Mommy, teaching curse words.

Marie said...

Where is Chris from BitterTwinMomma?

Kristin said...

This is actually a different Chris (not BitterTwinMomma).

But, I think Chris from BitterTwinMomma is swamped trying to prepare for the Bar exam.

Mrs. Gamgee said...

One of the kids my mom used to look after had difficulties saying hard Ts.

Trains were 'fains'
Tricks were 'ficks'
and Trucks were.... well, you get the idea.

Beautiful Mess said...

I love that ugly damn duck! He has character...meaning he is ugly and well loved.

What a crazy storm! How amazing!
*HUGS*

Suzy, Not a Fertile Myrtle said...

That's too funny! That storm was a quite something wasn't it?!?

Anonymous said...

Was the storm Monday ?? My mother -in-law blogged about a bad one...60 mph winds. Her fault for getting wetter though. She had gotten groceries and instead of waiting to unload them til it stopped she took them all in the house. She lives in seabrook s.c. don't you live near there ?

Billy said...

Can't see the duck, but funny story behind its name :-)


And the storm.. I think now I understand why my gmail keeps showing me rainy weather (right now my gmail's background is cloudy - as if!). Somewhere in the world (and not in the southern hemisphere) it is actually raining now, and stormy too! [oh, I am jealous...]

rys said...

So I finally get to see the 'Damn Duck'! LOL In our house we have something like it: The FoulFather (yes, a duck) and his Chick girlfriend Rosemarie. Both were Easter presents when my kids were little. Remember the stuffed bunnies you sent me? They became part of the FoulFather's Bunny Minions.

Ah yes, they seem to take on a life of their own, don't they? Now you'll never get rid of that thing until Marty moves out!

Katie said...

Too funny! And the duck is kinda ugly

In Due Time said...

lol @ Damn Duck I have A on video saying Bitch. Heh. I'm sure going to make a great mother I tell ya.

Awesome video, too. We had really bad winds like that in TN a few times. Winds clocked at 70 mph or so a few years ago I believe, it wasn't a tornado either, just straight line winds.

Carrie27 said...

Ok, so this repeating stage will end? Good to know!

Now you have to keep the damn duck, it is too funny not to!

That storm looks hellacious!

kate said...

Wow, that's some storm. We got a bit of that yesterday.

And MAN, is that one fugly duck! I, too, suspect that your friend was trying to find a way to get rid of it so she wouldn't have to look at it anymore!

Barb said...

Do you live in Fla too?! That looks like one of ours!

And yes, I agree about the duck. haha

Keiko Zoll said...

That's a great story. And one fugly duckling :) I can't open the vid at work, but I'll watch it when I get home. I love a good thunderstorm. Thanks for the comment over at my blog!

Sandy said...

Yep, that's an ugly duck. You should SEE some of the ugly crap that people have given Oscar. I would do a post on it, except some of these people read my blog.

Delenn said...

I love that story! I esp. love the origins of the name--sounds like something that would happen to me.

BTW, anytime you wanna vist MA, look me up!

battynurse said...

That is soooo funny. And I agree that Damn isn't too bad on the scale of swear words. I worry any children I have will learn either sh*t or the f bomb from me.