Listen to my own words.

So the other day "Duck" responded to everything I said with But! Finally it was enough, I don't want a child who has an excuse for everything, I struggled with this myself for while, instead of finding an answer I found an excuse. I made a big deal about the word 'but'. Every time she said it for the next half hour I turned around wiggled my butt and said, this is a butt, no more 'buts'. Well my unorthodox and maybe mildly insane method worked. No more 'buts', she was answering questions and taking more ownership. I felt rather proud of myself. Within a weak though I was hearing my own words, I was trying to explain something and out came the word 'but', the word was barely out of my mouth and "Duck" looked at me very sternly and said "Daddy no Buts!" Wow, time for a wake up call. Within another week I am hearing it a few times a day. I made a big deal about it and now I am learning. I had a valid point, and now that I am hearing my own words back to me I have a challenge. Can I live my life with no 'buts'. Can I avoid having to explain myself by having the right words to begin with, can I avoid questioning my actions and be positive. So now I try to live without 'buts' I guess in some ways its living without regrets!