Moms and their kids

As I get ready to pack for my trip to San Diego this weekend with my parents, I remember the first time I went to San Diego with a friend.  Well, upon checking into The Catamaran Hotel, I walked out onto the balcony and saw something interesting.  I hadn't recalled this story until recently, so bear with me as I piece this tale back together after 10 years from memory.

Walking out onto the balcony of the hotel room, I look down into a garden area.  There in the small grass filled courtyard I saw a mother and her toddler.  The wisdom of her face betrayed her age, and the toddler was much like every other small child I'd ever seen.  Curious beyond imagination, the little one was hell bent on discovering the world.

The child would playfully run across the fresh cut grass, occasionally stumbling and when he did, his mother would never be too far away, and she'd come over, help him up and he'd scamper off again.  Seeing a cricket in the grass, he stumbled over on wobbly new legs to find out what the commotion in the grass was, scurrying ever so quickly to get a better look at what caught his eye.  Then, after the fascination of the moment wore off, he'd scamper off somewhere else and she'd chase after him to stay within a distance to protect and watch over the little guy.

You could tell that the mother had restricted the grassy area as a playground for the little guy.  Every time he'd try to run off, she'd corral him back onto the grass.  Her ever vigilant eye trained on the child as she pondered his safety in the big, bad world. She was never far away and always within distance to catch him should he be close to hurting himself or getting into trouble.

The mother had her hands full as she helped the little guy play to his hearts content.  You could tell she loved that little guy more than the world and she'd do anything to protect him.  After all, what else would a mother do...

The mom, well, she was a duck.  The child was a brand new little duckling.  Whatever your species, Moms are always a source of love and protection for their kids.