Ugh

About a year ago, Anika fell into the habit of groaning, long and drawn out, "Uuugggghhh" when something wasn't going her way. I ignored it for a while, until one day Henry started saying "Ugh" too. Now, the word "ugh" is inherently benign, but I was annoyed nonetheless. So I made a rule that whenever Anika, or Henry, or anyone else, said the word "ugh," Anika had to do push ups. For Anika, this punishment was quite effective--I haven't heard her say ugh in months. However, little Henry quickly figured out that if he said "ugh," Anika did push ups. Now, on a good day I hear "ugh" a few times.

This morning, I think I've heard "ugh" 100 times. Not only that, but Henry says "ugh," and then laughs and points at Jackie (as if she said it). If I were still enforcing the push ups, Anika would be the strongest girl on the block.

Morgan, by the way, is sitting next to me reading as I write, and just proudly turned to Jackie. "Jackie, here's how you spell ugh--U G H."