The Squish Factor

Coco – blissfully checking out the squish factor of a soft blanket in my office.

bliss ‘blis n [ME blisse, fr. OE bliss; akin to OE blithe blithe] (bef. 12c)  1:  that moment when the human body is attuned and aligned to a horizontal surface in complete relaxation resulting in peaceful, restful sleep  2:  the “ahhh” moment when the human body sinks into a soft object that cocoons the human body or head in squishy ecstasy resulting in joy.

FYI – the above definitions are completely made up.  Only the pronunciation, function label, attribution, etymology and date are correct.

The real definition:

1. Complete happiness, perfect happiness
2. Paradise, heaven; spiritual joy – a state of spiritual joy

But, my definitions best describe my joy in finding the right pillow, the right bed, the right sofa, the right chair, the right blanket.  I’ve made a habit out of finding the “right stuff” over the past five years because I’ve either:

• Chosen the wrong stuff
• Chosen the right stuff and it has been destroyed, ruined or worn out
• Chosen the right stuff at the time and my body now tells me it’s the wrong stuff!

I’ve concluded, after several decades of research, that the “right stuff” for me is determined by the “squish factor”:

• When I sit or lie down, do I sink into it?
• Do I experience an immediate sense of satisfaction or even happiness or joy?
• Does my body respond akin to a cat’s purr?
• Am I content to stay on that surface for multiple hours at a time?
• Can I stretch out and still experience the same sensations?
• Can only a blazing fire in a fireplace and a hot drink make the moment more perfect?
• Does my mind go completely blank momentarily, only replaced by contentment, serenity or satisfaction?

These questions are what I seek answers to when purchasing the perfect pillow, the perfect bed, the perfect sofa, the perfect chair, the perfect blanket, the perfect stuffed animal.

What?  A stuffed animal?  Yes, stuffed animal snuck in there and I use this system when purchasing stuffed animals, for others.  The stuffed animal factor inserted itself in my life for the first time about eight years ago when my mother was admitted to the hospital, deathly ill from a newly diagnosed heart condition.

I wanted to make it all better, as children do, even though I was almost 50 years old.  I couldn’t take her flowers or balloons (not allowed in her room), so I found the most perfect teddy bear in the hospital gift shop – soft to the touch and squishy to the squeezing.  When I handed it to her and she hugged it, complete joy!

That bear ended up getting torn at a seam before her release and I thought it was ruined.  So, I bought her another one.  Now she has two – she loves both and they are always on her bed providing her with a constant visual reminder of the feeling she experiences when she hugs them.  And, she still sleeps with them, too.  82-years-old and she sleeps with teddy bears!

Several months ago, I made the mistake of washing the sleeping pillows on our bed.  I read an internet article about dust mites that feed on the dead skin cells shed by humans and animals.  They are found primarily on surfaces where humans lounge, such as beds.

Since this blog post isn’t about dust mites or their extermination and prevention, I’ll let you do your own research.  Just know that while disgusting, they aren’t harmful and only affect humans if the human is allergic to them.  But, reading this article made me decide to wash all our bedding in hot water, including our pillows.

Big mistake!

While the article said to wash pillows in the washing machine, washing mine pretty much destroyed them!  They came out a lumpy mess and no amount of plumping, smashing or squishing restored them to their previously satisfactory state.

So, I recommend replacing your pillows after a few years instead.  I suffered through weeks of unsatisfactory nights before I found the right pillows with the right squish factor resulting in a perfect night’s sleep (Charlie was fine with his lumpy pillow; he doesn’t complain, much)!

I think I’m slightly agoraphobic these days plus I no longer like to shop (the result of having to completely furnish two homes – our temporary condo for 13 months and our new home at the end of the 13 months).  Although we felt like the winners of the “Extreme Home Makeover” TV show when we moved back into our new home four years ago, we did all the shopping and decorating ourselves, plus some of the moving.  So, I’m pretty much done with shopping.

My niece, Tiffany, graciously offered to help with shopping by purchasing things for me when she is already going to a particular store.  Recently, she scheduled a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond and asked if I needed anything.

Pillows!  I desperately need new pillows!

But, that’s one of my rules:  don’t buy anything “squish-factor-worthy” without test driving the product!

What to do, what to do?

So, I asked her to research what was available and report back.  As a child of the internet generation, she didn’t do a “report” in the truest fashion of reporting.  Instead, once she arrived on-site, she started photographing and texting product after product after product to me plus pricing information.

I was overwhelmed by the number of available choices and asked her to do her own “squish test.”  With the help of a store employee, they “squish tested” all available products; she even got the employee to lie on the floor to prove the “squish factor”!  Once satisfied with her research, she text me their opinion and results.

With trepidation, I made a few choices and voilà, later that day, I had new bed pillows.  Gigantic, king-sized, extremely poufy bed pillows!  Can you ever have something that’s too poufy?

That night, I arranged my pillows (I like multiples), got into bed and laid back.

Squish nirvana!

My head sucked the multiple pillowy poufs to the right consistency and before I knew what happened, I was sawing zzz’s.  Throughout the night, turning side-to-side – perfection.

Oh, by the way, Charlie, too.  No more bumpy, lumpy, nasty, washed-in-the-washing-machine pillows!

My husband, Charlie, and I lost our home to a wildfire in 2007.  We spent just over a year rebuilding and furnishing our new home and major shopping excursions were part of that process.  I did countless hours of research on the internet locating various household furnishings, accessories, fixtures, etc. and Charlie and I ordered quite a few of our furnishings from internet sources and catalogs.

But, I drew the line at the “squish factor.”  If it was an item that I would be sitting in, reclining in or laying in for many hours at a time, I had to try it out first.  I wasn’t willing to purchase a sofa for me and Coco (Charlie sits in a chair 100% of the time due to his handicap), that I haven’t “test ridden” and approved as “squish-factor-worthy”!

Purchasing our bed should have been a no brainer.  Before the fire, we had a mattress that was pretty near perfect.  It had replaced our old water bed (am I dating myself?) that I thought was nirvana (I still do; if I could have found a replacement for that, I would have; but we migrated to the air-type mattress and it works relatively well, although not nirvana perfection).

But, I made a tactical error, purchasing our new bed for our temporary condo in a store that didn’t carry our old mattress.  I was assured by the salesperson that this new product would mold to my body and that I would think it quite perfect!

Wrong!

I had terrible back aches.  But, we had just spent a significant amount of money on this new mattress.  I decided to “tough it out” until we moved to our new house and instead, placed a twin-sized blow-up air mattress on top of our new mattress to make it through the next 10 months.

So, I spent those 10 months 6 inches higher than Charlie, but slept quite well and wasn’t sure I wanted to test another bed, even once we moved!  Every day, I deflated that air mattress and made our bed over the air mattress.  Then every night, I pumped it back up!

Silly girl; but I got a good night’s sleep.

When we finally moved to our new home, we got the same type of mattress we had before the fire and it works just fine – no more air mattress 6 inches higher than Charlie!  We saved the air mattress for visiting nieces and nephews.

Also, I spent months and months searching for the right sofa.  The temporary sofa we purchased for the condo was all wrong.  Well, I didn’t know it would be all wrong at the time I purchased it.  I did sit in it and it seemed quite satisfactory.  But, as it turned out, sitting in it for long periods of time while working on various insurance and home building projects, was woefully lacking; plus it wasn’t quite big enough for me and Coco to lounge comfortably!

So, when I found the right sofa, I knew it.  I sat down and it fit me perfectly, providing support in all the right places and had a “squish-factor-worthy” rating of A+++!  I’ve never regretted that decision.

All-in-all, I highly recommend the “squish” test when choosing furniture, pillows, blankets, etc.  By using this technique, you’ll have a much higher success ratio!

Trust me – I’ve done extensive research in this field {grin} in recent years and I know your body will thank you!

Coco sawing zzz’s on soft blue Z Gallerie blanket!

Coco squished down, sawing zzz’s on the arm of a “squish-factor-worthy” chair!  He’s forsaken his perch and thinks he’s hiding from the birds outside the window!

Coco partially hidden under Charlie’s “squish-factor-worthy” blanket.  I made this blanket for Charlie last Christmas.  One side is a NASCAR racing flag design and the other side has John Deere Tractors and red barns.  How could it be any more perfect?  Coco commandeers it all the time.

Coco’s feet sticking out from under Charlie’s blanket.

Coco purring and kneading under another soft blanket (he has this “thing”) – this one on the bed in our guest room.

Above photo:  Coco, four years ago, on a soft “squish-factor-worthy” pillow purchased as a set from Costco.  He loved that pillow, but once we moved out of the condo, he moved on to other “squish-factor-worthy” elements and no longer used the pillow! {finicky cat!}

So, the Princesses P decided they wanted Coco’s no longer used “squish-factor-worthy” pillows.  Above is Princess P on hers – ready for bed.

And, here’s Princess Sweetie Pie on hers – complete nirvana!

What’s your favorite “squish-factor-worthy” item?  Blanket or pillow?

Tootles,

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