Ever since I can remember, my family has had a rule that can’t be broken.  If someone is bugging you — usually by way of teasing or tickling or wrestling or poking, etc… — and you want it to stop, you call out “bugawuga” and it HAS to stop.  This is mostly used by kids who don’t really have any advantage on adults….until they pull the “bugawuga” card.  And at that point, adults have no power.  They must immediately stop whatever they are doing for about three seconds to allow the kid to get a reprieve and/or run like the dickens.

Last night…the main offender of receiving the “bugawuga”– my brother David was in town.  (Keep in mind that I have David to thank for being so tough.  He was the one who would get any of us kids and hold us under the water in the pool just far enough so if we tilted our head back in hopes of getting a breath, we were 1/2 an inch from the surface.  If you think that is mean enough, I forgot to mention that he was doing this while in his scuba gear and cracking up.)  Anyway, last night he was having a serious pillow fight with Scout.  And he is kind of the “no holds barred” type of fighter.  He does lighten it up due to his enemy being under the age of two, but not as much as one would expect.  Scout was in heaven!  He was carrying pillows that were as heavy as he was, running with them and trashing David.  Part of the fun was the very animated reaction he was getting from David when he would get him.  But on the flip side…..David was in heaven because Scout wasn’t giving up.  David was tripping, pushing, and throwing pillows at Scout, and the little one was cracking up and just kept coming back for more.  And then….out of the blue…..during one of the biggest attacks by David, Scout yelled out “BUGAWUGA” and David immediately froze.  Then Scout picked up a pillow and threw it at David as hard as he possibly could.

David looked at me and we laughed so hard.  I was in complete amazement because I had never taught him “bugawuga”, but I remembered my mom trying to help him understand the word and concept about two months earlier.  I think Trilby was going to “get him” and my mom told him to say the word to make her stop.  Since then, I don’t have any memory of him saying it.  But there he was….two months later…..and in total need of an advantage in the pillow fight…..and his memory served him well…. in the form of a simple and silly word…..that under this roof holds all the power…..if only for a few seconds.