Thursday, September 10, 2009

Conner the Defiant, Conner the arrogant.

Just as the title says, though defiance isn't exactly the word to describe him. It isn't like I expect lots from them, other than simply to live as ducks do, with quacking, feathers, and worms. So to call him defiant might be a bit far fetched on my part. Still, he does defy. To explain I must backtrack and recap.

For some weeks I have been trying to get Conner, and to a lesser extent Sally, to let me hold them without flailing, and pecking. I say Sally to a lesser extent because she is completely oblivious to my attempts and her aloof behavior makes this even more evident. Conner however is a bundle of character and down feathers. He loves to play, and her loves to pretend he is the ruler of some imagined kingdom. When you approach him he just stays out of hands reach, and when you retreat he pursues. It is quite humorous. However recently the humor has become lesser with his new tactic of biting, which I will allow none of. The last straw was when he decided I was the one who needed to be bit. So I scolded him the way any good human father with duck children would: I gave him a gentle tap on the bill.

He was livid, refusing to speak to me for the remainder of the day.

All the while Sally strutted and kept to herself.

The next day Conner let me pet him, but only momentarily. Over the ensuing days Conner allowed more and more contact, which, by last night, all added up to me holding him gently under my arm for about 15 minutes. This is the most he has been held since he was first born. Of course now he is about 15 times the size he was then.

I was pleased.

I've also been debating something, but will need clearance I am sure, and I expect it as well, otherwise I would be worried about the system we are running around her. What am I talking about? I am thinking about bringing Conner and Sally to school. See, in Pre-K we do a letter a week, and we are currently on week B, so in two weeks we will be on week D, discussing, like you can imagine, all things that begin with the letter D. Good idea, right? I thought so too.

Still, I will need to ask the rules on this from our principal. I think she will say yes, as I don't plan on having them here all day, and I won't be bringing them in the building.

My one concern is this, Kindergartners. Aka the Pre-K students from last year who helped hatch our ever loving ducks. I don't want to cause some sort of disturbance, but I would love for them to be able to see how much they have grown, they are, after all, their ducks too, I suppose.

I will talk to the appropriate personnel, and let you know what happens.

Until then, know this Conner has the exact same personality of his father, and Sally, she has someone else's personality. Whose I do not know.