Mareeu

Annette and Ben went camping with the Cub Scouts this weekend (brrr) and Chris spent the night at his friend Ben's house, so Maria and I got some quality daddy/daughter time in on Saturday. She has been learning to read in kindergarten and is really enjoying it. Before bed, she read me a book about colors. Then, I tucked her in, said goodnight, and turned out the light. As I was headed out of her room she said "Hey Daddy" and we had the following conversation...

"Hey Daddy, why doesn't my name end with a U?"

"Hmm?"

"Why doesn't my name end with a U? It says 'uh', like 'bus'?

"Well...(pause)...some letters make a different sound depending on how they're used."

"Oh...that's dumb."

And honestly, I couldn't disagree with her. The spelling rules in the English language really don't make sense. I before E except after C. Why only after C? And what about "weird"? I don't speak any other languages, but I wonder if their rules make more sense. If a 5-year-old can figure out it's dumb, why couldn't the developers of the language?