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Semi-charmed kind of life

Because I have so much to say, but no desire to say it, I offer a post I wrote a year ago today. It was devoted to our once-a-year ritual of eating Lucky Charms. I haven’t purchased the 2006 box yet. Remind me to put it on the grocery list.

~*~*~*

This morning we cracked open our March 2005/St. Patrick’s celebratory box of pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, green clovers, blue diamonds, purple horseshoes, rainbows, and the yucky brown bits that always reminded me of Meow Mix as a child. Those yucky brown bits are just as shunned and yucky today as they were when I was a child. To this day I see the little “x” shape and think “cat food”.

The cereal is called Lucky Charms. It is obvious what parts of the cereal are lucky and rather charming. They are the marshmallows. I wonder, though, if General Mills produced a box of just the brown bits what it would be called? Unfortunate Feline? Tragic Sog-Magnets? Shunned Shapes? Wretched and Lonely Tidbits Destined to be Dumped in the Sink Immediately After Breakfast? No, that last one would be too long to fit on the box.

As the four big kids compared and counted marshmallows in their cereal bowls, I put a handful of Lucky Charms on Joel’s highchair tray. He studied the pile of Meow Mix and candy and immediately a synapse fired in his brain. This triggered a switch to turn on in every cell in his body, genetically pre-determined of course. Following in the footy-pajama clad steps of all 20th and 21st century children that came before him his tiny little fingers plucked a pink heart from the pile and he put it in his mouth.

The taste of powdery marshmallow caused a chemical reaction in his blood and a release of certain enzymes. Rushing to his brain the chemical flooded his temporal lobes and long-term marshmallow memory was born. A prejudice for the colorful, opaque gritty bits in the pile on his tray (justified or not) was formed and he acted upon his urges. Soon, all that was left on the tray was a pile of Wretched and Lonely Tidbits Destined to be Dumped in the Sink Immediately After Breakfast.

11 comments to Semi-charmed kind of life

  • I’ll be the first to admit it. I eat the cereal part first and save the marshmallows for last. That way, at the end, I can have three full spoonfuls of pure marshmallow.

    Hello, my name is Heather, and I’m still a grade schooler at heart.

    (I loved that post the first time you wrote it. Sog-magnets. Lol!)

  • Mel

    What a terrific idea! Lucky Charms for St. Patrick’s Day! You are so brilliant.

  • mopsy

    I am sure the Irish celebrate the same way, Mel. From coast to coast to coast to coast of the Emerald Isle, stale marshmallows for all!

  • What a great idea. We usually have corned beef and cabbage for St. Patty’s day. Stale marshmallows sound much more appealing.

  • You are such a good mommy. I hit upon a deal where I combined a sale plus coupons to get Lucky Charms for just over $1.00 per box. I bought four. And it doesn’t end there. I bought four boxes of CHOCOLATE Lucky Charms. They’re almost all gone now.

    Yuck.

  • What a lovely tradition. I’m such a sucker for kid cereals…that’s why we don’t have them in the house. I hate it when the top of my mouth gets raw. Chewymom, how long will those 4 boxes last you? Between me & the kids they wouldn’t even need preservatives because no shelf life would be required. 🙂

  • First time here. This was cute. Those little x’s DO look like cat food. Ew!! I don’t eat them, not even once a year, but now i’ve got another reason why!

  • Lucky Charms was my birthday cereal growing up. I had a crush on the leprechaun. He was associated in my mind with Jack Frost, and Robin Hood, and Peter Pan–although those guys in green. And I also had a crush on the marshmallows.

  • I agree about the meow mix, lol. That is what they always reminded me of, especially when mysteriously, that was all that was left in the box. Now how does that happen?

  • I don’t know how I lost you, but I did! Now I’m back and I’ve blogrolled you and added your feed to my list. Love this post. It’s sooooo true. I could never put my finger on why I didn’t like the look at the cereal and now it’s oh so clear.

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