Pillow Wars

I have a pillow. My Mom bought it for me when I was pregnant with my daughter. It's a body pillow. And it's 9 years old. Over the course of my married life, I have cuddled more with this bag o' fluff more than my husband (may have something to do with the period where he worked for the mine and was gone 4 days at a time.) It's lost its color, it's fluffiness, and it's pillowcase. But, after all these years, I have molded it to my body. It's perfect for me. I don't have to sit down and pound on it to get it just the way I want it, it already is. At night this faded blue, patched at least ten times, flattened out bed accessory becomes an extension of me.

For a while there, Mike would fight me for it. After the kids were in bed, it would be a race between the two of us to get to the bed first. As we'd race to the finish line, I would dive and cover my precious pillow. Imagine two toddlers fighting over a favorite toy. There would almost definitely be hair pulling and biting. Some nights he would win, and I would have to wait until he had drifted off into a deep sleep before I could steal it back. Other nights I would get to keep my beloved pillow, then I would wake up in the middle of the night to see him holding it tight, a small smile on his face. Sometimes the winner would be generous and share a part of it. I kept telling him to get his own, but he's just stubborn.

Finally, one day he found one. A nice big, fluffy, colorful, brand new pillow. Wait, why do I like this faded, flattened one?? A new battle ensued. But now he was the one telling me to get my own. More specifically, reminding me that I have my own. I shouldn't need his. Or should I? Then one night it got cold. My faded flannel pillow stays warm underneath the covers. His brand new cotton pillow case does not.

Ok, I don't need his after all. I have mine. But now he wants me to have his! I don't think so. So far, a sort of truce has stopped all the pillow fighting.

Now, instead of fighting each other for them, we have to fight the kids and the dogs for our favorite pillows. The dogs seem to have the same desire for body pillows as we do. Lay out all the pillows on our bed, and inevitably Marley or Darla picks the biggest ones to lay on (Maverick can't get up on the bed, and Daisy just doesn't care where she sits). And while the kids have FINALLY outgrown the sneak-into-mom-and-dads-bed-in-the-middle-of-the-night phase, there are a few instances where they wake up before we do and want to snuggle. Usually I get woken up when my pillow has been replaced by a little girl.