Swan Mom: May the 4th

Why 'Swan Mom'?

Not long ago, a neighbor who saw me on a walk with my children told me how cute it was to see us walking down the road, with me in front and my kids following along. “You looked just like a mother duck with her little ducklings,” she said.

It was not the first time I'd heard that. I have been told a number of times, as I walk through the grocery store or the school or a parking lot, that I look like a mother duck. And lately I’ve been thinking, Why a duck? Why am I always a duck, and never a swan?

I’ve decided I’d rather be a swan mom. Swans are famous for starting out awkward and unlovely, and then turning into elegant beauties, which is what I am still hoping to do. I haven't heard much about the parenting skills of swans, but I imagine they raise their young about as responsibly as ducks do, and probably with considerably more grace.

Thanks for joining me here as I waddle along.

Marnie Spencer

Saturday, May 4, 2013

May the 4th

Every year on the fifth of May, we enjoy eating great Mexican food as we commemorate the Mexican Independence Day with our neighbors to the south.

But at our house, the day before Cinco de Mayo has some significance, too: