The End of the Duck Fart Era

It is the end of an era here at The Smiling Goat Soap Company. Sadly, the soap my baby created when she was eight-years-old is no longer. Duck Fart, which was a fan favorite, is no longer. I believe we currently have four bars left and perhaps a few jars of moisturizer. I still remember the diligence, thought, and consideration The Bean put into creating this soap. She sat with me, choosing colors. She chose blue to represent the water, orange to represent the duck’s bill, white to represent the duck, and yellow to represent the baby ducks. When I asked her why she chose the name Duck Fart, she giggled and said, “It’s funny.”

Indeed it was funny, and Duck Fart got a lot of attention. Whether you loved it or took offense to it, it did receive a lot of attention. I can’t tell you the number of people who would stop in their tracks, do a double-take, and then pick it up to smell it. Most people laughed, but some looked upon it with disdain. Overall, most thought it smelled delicious. Jordan was often asked how she knew what a duck fart smelled like, and she would giggle and say she didn’t know. She just imagined it smelled like her soap. My child does indeed have an active imagination.

The lovely little company we work with who offers natural scents has retired this oil blend. We have toyed with the idea of blending our own version of it, but if it is not exact, people will notice. Jordan and I made the decision to retire her soap, and she was left with the task of replacing it. We went down the path of farts once again, but she believes she is more sophisticated at thirteen. We tried out the idea of toad fart (this is a name I call her when she is being obnoxious), fairy fart, and goat fart. Fairy fart had the most significant appeal. We all agree goat fart is just too real for all of us to enjoy. You would understand if you ever spent time on the business end of a milk goat. But alas, The Bean went in a different direction.

The decided replacement for Duck Fart is a cotton candy scent. It is a lovely scent, I must admit. We had used this scent when we made soap to donate to a backpack project for underprivileged kids a few years ago. We all remember how fun and sweet this scent is and how it smelled exactly like fresh cotton candy. The Bean made the obvious choice to use baby blue and cotton candy pink as her colors. We battled with The Bibbed Wonder and Jenna, who disappointingly takes on many negative aspects of The Bibbed Wonder’s personality, for example, smart a$$ answers, complete hatred for glitter, and nay-saying to my marvelous ideas for using said glitter. Sometimes, Jenna even wears bibs to reinforce she is the female version of The Bibbed Wonder. I am now limiting my daughter’s unsupervised interaction with Jenna. The world can’t handle two bibbed wonders…actually, I can’t handle it. I jest about the unsupervised visits, but everything else is entirely accurate. Sigh. I feel the need to apologize to Jenna’s mom regularly.

Anyhow, I digress. Instead of big, bold, iridescent glitter, we used sparkling white mica. Sigh. It just isn’t the same. However, it is a lovely soap, with a beautiful top, and a bit of sparkle even without the glitter. The Bibbed Wonder created the design for the top all on his own. He claims he watches soap-making videos on “InstaFace” and “Pintagram.” I know he is full of beans because we don’t have time to watch videos. If we did have time to watch videos, I am sure he would choose something related to little people racing camels or something about pigs. Those are his two obsessions. I know, just don’t ask. Sigh. He truly is exhausting.

You will soon see Jordan’s new soap on the website and at The Ligonier Country Market. It will be several weeks before it is available. I don’t think you will be disappointed with her latest creation. She also has plans for her mermaid soap, a fruit smoothie soap with yogurt, and a soap that smells like fresh laundry, her favorite scent in the whole wide world. As she grows, her scent choices do indeed become more sophisticated. It makes me a little sad that my giggling eight-year-old has been replaced with a lanky, lovely teenager. Don’t worry; she still laughs uproariously over farts. She’s not that sophisticated. I know some of you will feel my pain over the end of the Duck Fart era. If it’s any consolation, Elf Fart will still make an appearance at Christmas time.

As we close the chapter on Duck Fart, we open the book to endless possibilities. I hope you are as enamored with Spun Sugar as we are. As always, stay safe, be smart, accept that change is inevitable, and keep washing your hands.