Waiting on a Marshmallow

I went out to dinner with my beau last night and he reminded me of a WONDERFUL experiment that was done on some children. Not that kind of experiment, you jerks. The experiment was not crazy or creepy at all. In fact, it was actually quite brilliant.

It involved:
1. A child
2. A marshmallow
3. 20 minutes

The experiment is that a child was brought into a room with nothing but a table, a chair, a plate and a marshmallow. They were told that they could eat the marshmallow now or wait until the adult returned to the room and they would get a 2nd marshmallow. 2 marshmallows?? GO FOR THE GOLD!! They were told to sit in the chair while they waited... patiently.... staring.... at... the... white.... fluffy.... sweet.... chewy.... maaaaaaaaaaaarshmaaaaalllooooooooow.... *drools*

The pain of patience that these kids go through is unfortunate, yes.. but mostly it is SO ENTERTAINING! Too bad it's frowned upon to bribe children... after you watch this video, you will agree that marshmallows are the best bargaining tool ever invented.




My favorite is the kid with the rainbow on his shirt, who is seriously struggling to hold it together waiting for marshmallow #2. He looks like an adult as he rubs his forehead out of total frustration!! Hahahaa!

Obviously, I don't like to laugh at the expense of children, but I suppose when the problem is "Do you eat the marshmallow now and risk not having another, or do you wait to eat the marshmallow and suffer like never before?", it is alright to laugh, right?!

I was thinking about what my "marshmallow" would be. Marshmallows are good and all, but they don't cause me to almost have a nervous breakdown while waiting for a 2nd one. I think my "marshmallow" would have to be Mud Pie made with coffee ice cream, Oreo cookie crust and hot chocolate fudge. (I must insert, that after having written this, and gone through to edit this post, I have NOT been able to stop thinking about all the amazing that is Mud Pie. Ridiculous marshmallow!!) Obviously, I would need to have the cake in a freezer-type thingamajig where I could still see it and the hot chocolate fudge over low heat on a double-broiler... Not sure the "scientists" would go to such lengths to experiment on me, but I would definitely appreciate it! I suppose marshmallows are a lot less hassle that way.

What is your "marshmallow??" :-) I like that question. I think it needs to be asked more.

Love,
liz xo