Good morning! I hope the world is being good to you and you’re being good to it.

Grab your coffee or beverage of choice and share a thought with me!

I’ve always enjoyed trying to do accents and different voices. My range is pretty limited and I’m hardly consistent (my British flip flops with Australian depending on the phrase), but it’s still handy to be able to pull up a fun, sometimes wacky voice when needed. This skill is currently enjoying high utility when it comes to Sesame Street books.

Do you know Sesame Street? Yes, I’m referring to the children’s program that’s been around since the Sixties, theme song goes, “Sunny day, sweepin’ the clouds away…on my way to where the air is sweet…”. (I had to look those lyrics up since I realized I’ve probably been singing it wrong for most of my life.) The show is a public broadcasting mainstay, and it had a fairly significant presence in my childhood. While the classic characters are still around like Big Bird, Grover, Oscar, and Bert and Ernie, I recognize little of modern Sesame Street when compared to the structure of the show from my youth. That’s okay; shows need to evolve, especially when they’ve been around for nearly six decades.

Sesame Street  is back in my life because of the books in our house. Whether reading midday or as part of the kiddo’s nighttime routine, there are several Sesame Street themed books that are regular requests. I made the decision (or possibly the mistake) to try do the characters’ voices. Cookie Monster is probably my best, especially since I can do an uncanny likeness of his “devouring cookies” sound. Kermit the Frog is high on the list too, though he’s more of a Muppet than Sesame Street character. Ernie is pretty decent as well, and my Grover is coming around. I’m no Frank Oz, but the toddler seems to approve of the quality.

I would love to be able to nail voices for other characters, but I struggle with the lighter, squeakier ones. I’m sure there’s a slight shift I could do with my Kermit to match Big Bird, but I seem to only have one gear available for that particular voice type. Then, for a character like Elmo, there’s no chance; he’s my least favorite character anyway.

Now, perhaps you’re saying, “That’s okay, dad, you’re doing more than is necessary anyway.” Sure, that’s what I’m telling myself to live with these failures, but I’ll be forever bugged by the gaps this injects into the books. All these colorful characters have unique and fun voices until we get to an Elmo-focused page, then he’s there talking with the deep tenor of a grown man. Or, if I try to imitate or force a different voice for a character like Elmo, I end up reading these light-hearted pages with a terrifying, cracking falsetto. At that point, I’ll avoid giving my toddler nightmares and just use a normal voice.

This is my Everest right now. I could’ve chosen from the beginning to eschew character voices and read normally, but if I’m going to read a book 500 times, I have to try make it a little fun, right? I do enjoy talking like Cookie Monster and giving a soft draculian laugh whenever the Count finishes counting. We’ll keep working on the weak ones, and who knows, maybe one day it will click.