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Monday, March 23, 2009

I Did It All For The... Marshmallows

You would think marshmallows would be a relatively easy thing to locate in a store. Apparently I peeved The Man Upstairs somehow and he decided it would be fun to send me on a wild goose chase for the gooey fluffy confection. Oh yeah sure, it started out as a simple enough request from the 3 little girls at my house who wanted nothing more than to roast marshmallows over the fire in the backyard. Did I particularly feel like leaving my house that evening? No not really. Would I do it for them? Yeah, sure. I needed to out anyway and get more wood for the fire, surely marshmallows would be an easy enough request to fill while I was out.

First stop. The BX. Wood, check. Now surely they will have marshmallows in the Shoppette next door. Nope. Check the watch. Five minutes to seven. The commissary closes at seven, we can totally make it there in time. J (my cohort in marshmallow procurement) and I make it to the commissary with three minutes to spare. Go to the doors. Locked. Are you kidding me? There are customers still inside but the powers that be are mallow blocking us! By this point I have a feeling that God is looking down and is laughing His omnipotent booty off at us while pointing and shouting "Suckers!"

I half considered going back to the house empty handed in defeat. Then I thought of the wrath I would face from the three little girls back at my house. Oh hell no, I am not going back there without the goods. Do you know how whiny little girls can be when they don't get what they are expecting? It is like when women don't get what they want, only in a higher pitch and decibel level. Perhaps a little more stomping and crying is involved as well. Oh and for the rest of the night you will not hear the end of it.

At this point I have two stores in mind where the target might be obtained. The first is a convenience store in my little village. It has a limited selection and exorbitant prices. There is not guarantee that there will be marshmallows there but it is fairly close. The other option is the Sainsberry's in the next town over. It is a national grocery chain and it is guaranteed to have marshmallows, however it is further away and we have already been gone a while (like 30-45 minutes at this point) and we still need to go to J's house to get her son some different socks and shoes. Judgement call. We decide on the convenience store.

When we entered the convenience store it was like the gates of heaven had opened up. Marshmallows were literally sitting right in front of me on the first display in the store. I am surprised there wasn't a ray of light spotlighting them and a choir of angels singing. I grabbed them and paid my £1.80 and then headed to J's house. When we finally got back to my house I am sure we had been gone well over an hour the first thing I heard when I got out of the car was J's little girl asking "Do you got the marshmallows?" Yes, we have the marshmallows. 3 stores and over an hour later, we have the marshmallows. You girls better enjoy every single bite of them too. And they did.

29 comments:

mo.stoneskin said...

So if you take into account fuel costs they probably cost you four quid!

Well done.

I would have whined too if you had returned empty handed!

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid to say that marshmellows are a staple of our 'goodie' cupboard and, much like my nan during the war who would never dream of having no less than 2 bags of sugar in the cupboard at any given time, I'm like that with marshmellows.
You could have popped round and I've have given you a bag!

Wendi said...

I can't remember the last time I purchased marshmallows. You're post made me crave S'mores though.

Mom in High Heels said...

That is hilarious. You know though, now that I think about it, I don't recall ever seeing marshmallows in the German stores. I'm sure they must have them. Right? Curious. BTW, marshmallow blocking is quite possibly the funniest thing I've read in a long time.

Kurt said...

I had the EXACT same experience over the summer only all I could find was the mini-marshmallows and when I came back with those everyone just sorta looked at me all disgusted like I had failed them on some basic level. Like as a person.

Captain Dumbass said...

Thanks, Kat. It's not even 6am here and now I want a marshmallow.

Everyday Goddess said...

I would have done exactly the same thing. No one is gonna harsh my daughters joy! That, and because the wrath would be unbearable.

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Oh, we got the marshmallows, allright.....

I always thought it sould be spelled "marshmellow."

Ellie

Sprite's Keeper said...

The things we do for our marshmallows. I mean, kids. Yeah.

Cameron said...

Imagine finally making it home, and the girls decide, "Nah, we don't want marshmallows now. Do you have any chocolate?"

Anonymous said...

It's too bad they're too young to realize just how much they owe you for this.
We're always running out of marshmallows- I try to remember to keep a bag in the cupboard in the winter (we have a fireplace) but my kids can go through a bag a marshmallows like nobody's business.

Jess said...

When you need them, you need them. If you need me to mail you a batch, let me know. I know exactly where to go in Kroger. I have a bit of a marshmellow problem. I am not afraid to admit it.

Expat mum said...

Reminds me of the time I went looking for malt vinegar in the States (to make my mint sauce with). That was about ten years ago and I haven't bothered since. In fact, I probably still have the same bottle.

rachael chatoor said...

I recall having a hard time finding certain things when I lived in England, I share your pain, I hope they enjoyed every morsel.....

Lola said...

We have at least two bags at all times!

Jessica said...

Well, on the bright side, at least now you know where to go the next time the marshmallow-y craving hits! Hope you enjoyed them... sounds delicious:) (did you just hear my stomach growl???)

Mama Dawg said...

You're such a good mommy.

for a different kind of girl said...

Ha! Oh, I'm so glad they still wanted them by the time you got home with them! My luck, there would have been changed minds and I would have told them too bad, there's marshmallows and marshmallows only!

I've got half a bag in my cabinet that I've had for awhile. I should bust those out and have some s'mores, now that they're on my mind. I don't know if those things go stale or not but how bad could they be with the addition of chocolate?!

Dawn Parsons Smith said...

The things we do to avoid the wrath of our wee ones! lol!

I went thru this same issue over the holidays. I had to drive 30 miles from home because all of our stores were sold out of stinkin' marshmallows! I did find a yummy jar of marshmallow cream that I enjoyed on my way to find the others though!

Femin Susan said...

Hi,
Your blog is really interesting... Good Luck...keep writing.

Irish Gumbo said...

Mallow blocking is so not cool, yo!

Hmm. I would have done it all for the nookie, but marshmallows? Someone would have to be feeding me some awesome toasted ones to make it worthwhile, all I'm sayin'...:)

Lawyer Mom said...

There's nothing worse than promising to get your kid something she has her heart set on, and coming up empty. Nice persistence.

Surely you know about s'mores too? If not, thank your lucky stars. Your grocery list would have tripled. Though I must say the final product would have been well worth it.

Bella Foxx said...

I gave you an award it here on my blog Bella is reading .... I love your blog.

ChurchPunkMom said...

mmmmm... Marshmallows... yum.

we like those here.

I'm never moving to England.

Wendy said...

Nicely written and funny story about life as a mum. Gonna go raid my pantry for marshmallows now, although I am somewhat limited in the roasting options :-(

Joanie said...

Ah kat! You are a girl after me own heart! I'd have done the same thing. As a matter of fact, I HAVE done exactly that! Raced from store to store, trying to find the correct item.

Cynthia L. H. said...

What a Mom! Well written post! Made me laugh out loud. Having raised 3 daughters, I understand comPLETEly!!! One wintery night my youngest wanted to roast marshmallows. The freezing, wet, outdoors was not exactly conducive to building a fire, however...and all I had in the house was the mini kind of marshmallows....Voila! The light-bulb of motherly ingenuity went on! Inspiration struck! We lit a large candle. We got out toothpicks and the mini-mallows and had a blast browning them over the flame of the candle! She still recalls it as one of her fondest memories! Touche' for Creative, Resilient Mothers Everywhere!

Anonymous said...

I'm slightly upset that you didn't have marshmallows on hand. Disturbed really... LOL You should've come to my house. There are at least 3 bags in my pantry. It may've taken a little longer than an hour though.

I love the visual of you walking in, the gates of Heaven opening up, angels singing.... and Aaaahhhhhh marshmallows!! lol

Anonymous said...

Mmm! Just nipping off to my local store for some marshmallows.