The other day Kaleb got in trouble at school and, as usual, he was reluctant to share the details with me.

Much to my chagrin, he always finds a way to “plead the Fifth” to my probings of his bad behavior on the grounds that any response might incriminate him! He doesn’t admit to anything, no matter if he’s innocent or guilty!

After I had finally extracted the particulars of his behavior on this occasion, he asked me, “Is my name Buster?”

You see, whenever he’s in trouble, I begin my threatened punitive action with the label, “Buster.”

“Buster, you better start minding your teacher!”

“Buster, you better keep your hands to yourself!”

“Buster, you better do your work at school!”

“Buster, you better quit arguing and talking back to me!”

“Buster, you better…whatever!”

Buster! Buster! Buster! It’s the name I unconsciously call him when he’s in trouble. Yet, I just intended the label to be an expression of my dissatisfaction rather than a designation for his new identity…

But since I have to use it so much, maybe we do need to change his name!