Days of Old (Literally!)

Last week, while shopping with Dear Daughter at the local Stuff Mart, the two of us wandered through the cereal aisle. I tried to spot a sale or bargain of some sort as a box of cereal now costs more than a gallon of gas. Daughter spied Lucky Charms and pleaded to have them. I asked her why she thought Lucky Charms were such a good idea, and she proceeded to tell me about the tv commercial she saw. We don't usually buy sugary kids' cereals. In fact, Daughter typically prefers Wheat Chex or Life (which I guess would sort of qualify as a kids' cereal, but not as heavily sugared as others). Until now, I have been able to convince her that any sugary cereals at a kid's eye level in the supermarket (they do that on purpose, you know) is "yucky" or has a peanut warning (Daughter has a potentially severe peanut allergy). I picked up the box of Lucky Charms and read the contents. I figured I had to let her be a kid once in awhile and that there are worse things than Lucky Charms, so I gave in to her whim.

This morning she eagerly requested a bowl of Lucky Charms for breakfast. I allowed her to have it as long as she supplemented with some eggs or yogurt. I grabbed a handful from the box as I was preparing Daughter's bowl. It was pretty good. I decided to indulge in a bowl myself. Of course, then Dear Son wanted the same. The three of us sat around the kitchen table munching on Lucky Charms. I was gazing at the box sitting in front of us, and I became entranced with the picture of the little leprechaun on the box and the flavor of the cereal I was chewing. It transported me back in time, and an old 1970's Lucky Charm's commercial played in my mind's eye. The one where the little leprechaun pops up near the bowl of cereal and points out the marshmallow shapes...something about "...green clovers and blue diamonds. .." I don't remember the rest of the colors and shapes, just the leprechaun rattling them off. In case you don't already know this, they've changed the marshmallow shapes and colors in the past three decades.

That's when I announced proudly to Dear Daughter that I remembered eating Lucky Charms when I was a little girl. Daughter's eyes grew big and her face looked surprised and excited as she answered, "Really?! I didn't know they had cereal back THEN!"

And that's where my happy childhood memory of Lucky Charms abruptly stopped. I had to grab a napkin to keep from spitting milk all over the table!