The conversation which later flared into a little argument all started at the breakfast table.

     Madison asked Bridgette if she would like to play with her in the secret room after breakfast. Bridgette said no. She wanted to listen to the song "Home" by some guy named Michael Bubble.She's been glued to her i-pod ever since dad got her that little thing last Christmas.

"Michael B-U-B-B-L-E?  How can a person's last name be B-U-B-B-L-E? " Madison burst out laughing.

"M-A-D-I-S-O-N", with a very stern look on her face, Bridgette said, "IT IS NOT FUNNY!
You are NOT supposed to laugh at a person's last name."

"But his name is B-U-B-B-L-E, how can a person's name be BUBBLE?" she continued laughing.

Now, you have to admit that a person named BUBBLE does sound funny to a five-year-old.
As much as I was amused, being a reasonable and mature mother here, I tried hard not to laugh.

"Well, " I cleared my throat while trying hard to think of something constructive and not hurtful to say. "Bridgette, you are absolutely right that we are not supposed to make fun of people's names.
It's not nice." (now, I'm thinking years ago when I first heard of 陳水扁, no offense to him, but I could not believe who on earth would give their precious child that name. Little did I know that someday he would go on to become the president of Taiwan. But, anyways, back to the story)

"But, Bridgette, I think, as long as we do not laugh at people in front of them... .No, No, No, that's not what I mean. What I meant was that it's O'K' to laugh at something with good intentions. It's O'K' that Madison thinks a person's last name being B-U-B-B-L-E is funny. because it is funny. God wants us to have a sense of humor, right?"

She reluctantly accepted my explanation and not said a single word.

For the purpose of clarifying, later I dug out that CD by Michael Bubble and found out
that his last name is actually spelled as--B-U-B-L-`E.