As I have mentioned in a previous post, the boys love Lucky Charms cereal. They don’t get to have it all the time — mostly because they are notorious for picking around the cereal bits and eating only the marshmallows. And I like to at least cling to some pretense that they are consuming a breakfast-food, not a bowl full of dehydrated sugar soaked in milk.
But a few months ago, as I was wandering the aisles of the grocery store, I noticed the promotional box of lucky charms featuring unicorn marshmallows. Connor loves unicorns. They both love Lucky Charms. There was one box left on the shelf.
I snagged the box, knowing how excited they would be the next morning. It just so happened, this box also featured a contest, where you could enter to win a free box of marshmallow-only lucky charms. RAINBOW AND UNICORNS AND SUGAR OH MY.
After breakfast that next morning, I told the boys about the contest. We looked up the verification code inside the box, and they gathered around me while I entered it in to the website.
“Now boys,” I reminded them, “we’re probably not going to win. There are lots of boxes of Lucky Charms and only a small portion of them have a winning code.”
“We know mom,” says the oldest.
“Yes, we know,” echoes the littlest. “Did we win?!”
So I proceed to enter the code. A screen pops up saying we have won entry into the “marshmallow-only club.” I’m scrolling through the page, trying to find the catch. Is this some sort of marketing ploy where I pay a fee to join this club to get a box? Does everyone win entry into this “club”?
Further inspection reveals WE ACTUALLY WON. Like, for-real-no-strings-attached won one of only 15,000 boxes of marshmallow-only Lucky Charms.
I tell the boys.
Lots of happy screaming and jumping up and down and running to tell their dad.
While they are giving their dad the play-by-play (mom said we wouldn’t win but then she entered the code and we WON) I receive an email confirmation of my win. With the following note:
“You can expect to receive your prize within 6 to 8 weeks after the promotion conclusion.”
Uh-oh. I now have to break the news to the boys that they are going to have to wait two months for their prize to arrive. And do so in such a manner that they don’t ask me every morning for the next 8 weeks if their cereal has arrived yet.
They take the news as gracefully as could be expected. And so we waited.
This week, a small, rectangular, package arrived in the mail. I let them open it after school.
And our special certificate:
I guess now we need to start practicing the secret handshake…
