Snuggle Bunny

I miss snuggling. I'm certain I'm not alone in this. Snuggling was mentioned in a recent conversation, and it launched a myriad of thoughts: how fun it was to snuggle the kids in my lap when they were little for a good story or two, or ten... (Teenagers don't snuggle so much with their moms. As it should be. They still give great hugs and lots of them, so I can't complain. Besides, my snuggling needs are not their responsibility.) I remember the early married days, 20 years ago -expletive inserted, mostly b/c of the passage of time - and the lazy Sunday afternoon naps sans sex, which were incredibly good for my soul. Those days are long gone, at least by a decade or more, but the longing for a good snuggle is not. I'm thinking that's not a bad thing.

There is a company in Japan which actually makes a snuggling pillow - for women, presumably. It is a pillow with an appendage the shape of a man's arm. The hand is huge and, well, stuffed, not to mention it doesn't do diddly other than just look like it doesn't want to be snuggled with. It's wrong on so many levels. It sells for about 80 bucks and with 80 bucks I can have a lot of chai lattes. Buying a pillow does not a good snuggle ensure.

Maybe I think too much, but it seems to me a truly good snuggle is an issue of trust and time to "be" with someone - just because you enjoy the person. I have learned good snuggling is not present very often, if at all, in a wounded marriage. There is sex sometimes, and there are naps, but there is rarely just snuggling on the couch in front of the tv, in a big chair with a good book being read aloud back and forth (one of my longings, not one of my experiences- ok,yeah, with the kids it was, but it's SO not the same), or watching a fire wrapped in the same blanket. I have also come to the conclusion that snuggling, while it is apparently physical in its expression, is truly emotional in its endeavor (the marriage of Christopher and Dana Reeves comes to mind).
This probably explains why I miss it... In the meantime, there will be no pillow snuggle-worthy enough, chai lattes will do just fine, and I'll look forward to the day when I am a snuggle bunny again.