Mother Duck looked around her nest and thought to herself "my this place is looking untidy". Untidy was not an uncommon state for Mother Duck's nest. You see, she had three ducklings who muddled around the nest each and everyday learning about their world. Usually this brought Mother Duck joy to see her little ducklings enjoying their days so fully, but this mess, on this day was ruffling Mother Duck's feathers just a little too much. So Mother Duck picked up her broom and got out the rags and began to tidy their lovely nest.
She worked hard at each task and looked ahead to the next. When she turned around to take a look at her tidy nest she was surprised to find a different mess in the place of the old mess she had just tidied. With a sigh she picked up her broom again and began to clean. She tried to encourage her little ducklings to work along side her, and the oldest duckling picked up a rag and started to clean, and the next oldest duckling picked up a rag and started to clean. The youngest little duckling picked up a rag and just looked at it with a frown. Not too long later the little ducklings found their way back to muddling about the house leaving little messes in their wake. Mother Duck took a deep breath and shook out her feathers but she was now frowning at her little ducklings. The little ducklings all cried "we're sorry Mother Duck, we will help you tidy". The little ducklings lived up to their claims for a only moments before they returned to making their messes.
As Mother Duck cleaned up mess after mess she began to frown more and more. The little ducklings noticed Mother Duck's frown and again cried "we're sorry Mother Duck, we really will help you tidy our nest". But again the little ducks quickly found distractions and made bigger messes. When the little ducks cried their woes to Mother Duck a few more times she had enough! It was time for a waddle away from the nest. So Mother Duck set out on her waddle with a deep frown and her feathers just ruffling away. The little ducklings knew they had upset Mother Duck and followed her out on her waddle and even Father Duck joined in. As Mother Duck sped up her waddle the little ducklings picked up their pace, as Mother Duck quickened her waddle even more the little ducklings followed.
Soon Mother Duck found that her frown was being chased away by a smile. She could hear the little ducklings and Father Duck quietly waddling behind her and knew they just wanted to be near her. Mother Duck waddled a little further and the little ducklings diligently followed. Mother Duck could feel their love for her smoothing out her ruffled feathers. Her frown that was chased away by a smile was now replaced with the beginnings of laughter. Mother Duck stopped her waddling and let herself laugh. Father duck and the little ducklings stopped too but didn't quite understand what Mother Duck was laughing about and all looked at her quizzically. This made Mother Duck laugh even harder and soon the the little ducklings and Father Duck joined her in her giggles (even though they didn't know why).
When she stopped laughing she told them all how much she loved them and gave them each a kiss on their duckling heads. That made the ducklings smile. They continued on their waddle down to the lake and then afterward they all went back to the nest to tidy up.
The little ducklings will make more messes and Mother Duck will sigh and pick up the broom and rags. Sometimes the little ducklings will cry "oh Mother Duck we love you so and will help you clean" and go right back to making messes but Mother Duck knows that she could not have a more loving and sweet flock of her own who will make her laugh and feel loved everyday!
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