played by a third grader

Last night as I was cooking dinner and Jeffrey was hanging out and eating pretzels while asking his usual series of odd questions, he asked if he could put some pretzels in the water I was boiling for the pasta. Of course I said no, but he went on about how he thought boiled pretzels would be a good thing. Finally, I told him that I would boil a pretzel for him if he agreed to eat the whole thing even if he hated it. He agreed and so I boiled a pretzel for a few minutes for him.

While it was boiling, he asked if I would please try one too if he liked it. There was no way I wanted to eat a boiled pretzel, but since we are struggling to get Jeffrey to try more foods, I felt that it would set a bad example to refuse to try something he liked.

Of course, at this point, I knew he would claim to like the damn pretzel no matter what. Sure enough, when he tasted it he went on about how awesome it was and that I had to try it.

I knew he was playing me. I knew I was being punked by a third grader, but there was nothing I could do about it. I had to boil a pretzel and eat it.

Boiled pretzels taste exactly like you would expect. Soggy and warm with the salt boiled off. I can safely claim that boiled pretzels are just a bad idea.

At least I can say that the next time Jeffrey is reluctant to try something new, I am better armed than he from this incident. Is that worth eating a boiled pretzel? Probably, but the jury is still out.