My darling youngest child is 9 years old today.
She wanted a dragon themed birthday, and since I cannot decorate cakes for shit, I got a bunch of edible dragon stickers and made her cake ‘dragon-y’. She is such a easy-going little girls that she acted like this was some kind of new, hella-great cake technology and praised me, rather than letting me know it was a crap attempt and an embarrassment to kiddies everywhere. Bless her, she always tries to do the right thing and always tries to be kind.
She had a nice birthday party, with dancing and games and junk food and pizza, and most of her classmates showed up to celebrate with her. Thanks to the fortnite game craze, a lot of the dances the kids were doing were ridiculous, but a joy to behold from an adult perspective.
She had grown several inches taller since her last birthday, but is still so much smaller than her older sisters that it is easy for her to retain the coveted position as the “baby” of the family. Even when her sisters are quarreling with each other, they are usually still nice to Bubbles. Part of it is that she is still a little primary school kid while they attend secondary school (and thus too young to be fought with), but an even bigger part of it is that Bubbles is so sweet and amiable that neither of her sisters has the heart to snipe at her.
One thing that hasn’t changed since last year is her determination to become a veterinarian. She is, according to her, going to use her job as a means of petting every breed of dog in the whole world at least once. She has also told me she will use her job to champion rescue pets, because every pet deserves a home and an animal in a rescue shelter is just as lovable as an animal you pay money for at a store. That’s also why she has decided to adopt a child — so she can become a mommy to a child who needs a home. Bubbles has informed me she plans to live near me so I can babysit for her while she’s at work (and watch all her dogs), which is decent forethought for a kid her age.
Happy Birthday, Bubbles. You are of the most precious things in the history of the universe and I love you with all my heart.
