potato

At the end of every reading lesson with Glitter, she picks a book and I read it to her. Sometimes when I'm reading and get to a word that I think she might recognize or be able to sound out, I'll replace it with a silly word. The silly word checks to see if she is paying attention, and it also gives her a chance to look at the word and tell me what it really is. After several books, I got tired of making up new silly words and settled on "potato" as my stock silly word.

Then last Friday, Glitter was looking at the letters on our compost bucket and wondering what they said. Now, our compost bucket is just a large, old potato salad plastic container. I looked at the word and started to laugh. I told Glitter, you're not going to believe this, but it says "potato." She was instantly suspicious and told me not to be silly. What did it really say.

Me: "You might not believe this, but it says 'potato'."
Glitter: "No! What does it really say."
Me: "It really says 'potato'. Do you believe me?"
Glitter: "I don't believe you."
Me: "See, 'p..o..t..a..t..o'. Potato."
Glitter pauses with a look of deep concentration. She's quite sure that the word isn't 'potato', but she can't figure out what else it might be.
Glitter: "Sissy, what does this say?"
Sparkle: "Will you believe me?"
Glitter: "Yes, I believe you."
Sparkle: "Will you really trust me?"
Glitter: "Yes, already."
Sparkle: "Okay, it says ... potato."
Glitter: "No! Really! What does it say!"
Sparkle: "I know it's hard for you to believe, but it really does say 'potato'."
Glitter pauses again and looks at the letters intently. She's not quite convinced but starting to believe.
After a few more rounds of us insisting that the word is 'potato', Glitter gives in.
Glitter: "Oh, fine. Alright."
Then she wanders off.