My granddaughter’s first birthday is today. She’s an absolute delight, a smiley-happy kid who isn’t quite sure I am yet. Part of that is proximity; we live five hours away, so it’s not easy to see her as often as we’d like.

Part of it is me. I’m not entirely sure how to interact with babies. Kids, sure. Make a few jokes about Russian Bear putting bags over their heads and dragging them off to Siberia (also, stealing fingernails and for added bonus, the inside of the mask is painted with a glow-in-the-dark clown face! It’s a whole thing. The kids love it. Seriously.)

Babies, on the other hand, don’t appreciate my warped sense of humour, much like the school board.

(Seriously, there was a point where Russian Bear had gone so far as to have an entire cast and I was actually considering finding an animator.)

Anyways, happy birthday to the perfect little beauty. I can’t wait to see her on Sunday.

Target: 500 words
Written: 876 words, novella: The Mungk