Echo!

 

When Ellie was alive, we started this tradition where we would yell "echo" when we were in an especially echo-y location (like a garage or a tunnel).  Then saying echo became an echo.  It was quite meta.  One of those intellectual jokes. 

Fast forward to Lotta in 4th grade with a new stern, grumpy gym teacher.  During one of the first classes, she started to explain how the room seemed to echo a great deal and...as she said "echo", Lotta as is our tradition, automatically yelled out "echo".  To which the teacher was much less amused than we would be.  When Lotta explained what had happened, she was quite morose and saddened that she had been publicly reprimanded.  Reluctantly telling us the story, she expected some compassion for her plight.  Nobody around here enjoys "getting into trouble", so we understood her level of upset.  At the same time, we were all highly entertained, understanding the history of why she would automatically respond "echo".  Maybe the lesson learned was that timing is indeed everything.