Little bugger

So...er...ahem...ummm... I found out just LAST week that the term little 'bugger" isn't quite the endearing term here in the UK as it is in the States in reference to these little rug-rats we call children. I use it all the time in reference to Charlotte and her miniature friends- in emails with my moms' group friends, at the GP's office, the market, on the Tube - just about anywhere in public you could imagine. Now, I don't know if my American friend was trying to save me further public humiliation or rather, just a "hey, guess what I found out today" heads-up, but I am now the recipient of this insider information. What to do with this new information is the question of the week. It puts a bit of a kink in my vocabulary, as I'm now at a loss for words when referencing said peanut. I mean, I guess I could call her Charlotte and her friends by their birth names, but really, where's the fun in that? I have to run... I have a long list of mates in which to apologize. Oh bugger!