My pillow is my pillow

So I pretty much spent yesterday catching up on all the things I’d neglected to do while I was in Dallas, including such exciting things as making a grocery list and then going to HEB to purchase said groceries. And I did some laundry and attempted to straighten up the drawers in Caroline’s room because she is basically incapable of finding the t-shirt she wants to wear without disturbing all the other t-shirts contained therein. I even tried this trick I saw on a friend’s Facebook page where you fold the t-shirts and line them up in the drawer instead of stacking them on top of each other, but to no avail.

I also spent some time doing hydrotherapy on Mabel’s leg which is a fancy way of saying I put her in the bathtub and sprayed it with the handheld shower head. The vet said this would help with the healing process and Mabel seems to think it’s quite the treat. And then I put together what might be my new coffee table. I say “might be” because I’m undecided on whether or not I’m going to keep it. It might be a little more antique gold than what I was wanting, but I’m going to obsess about it for a few days and get opinions from anyone who walks into or even nearby my house before I make a final decision. I’d get your opinion but that would require me to get up and take a picture and I’m past that point right now.

Speaking of new things that are still awaiting a final decision, I finally bought myself a new pillow. Some of you may remember that about two years ago I asked for recommendations for a good pillow because I was in need of a new one and, now – TWO YEARS LATER – I pulled the trigger. Maybe.

I’d long been intrigued by the My Pillow commercials and had a friend tell me several years ago that she adored her My Pillow and it was the best one she’d ever had. But I just couldn’t reconcile ordering a pillow online that I’d never felt or tested and if you’ve been reading this blog long enough you know I make the Princess in The Princess and the Pea look like a low maintenance sleeper who could doze off in the aisle seat of an airplane with no neck pillow.

On the My Pillow website it claims to be “the official pillow of the National Sleep Foundation” and that sounds totally legitimate even though I had no idea that such a foundation existed. For all I know it could be like when George Costanza made donations to The Human Fund. But I finally decided to order one over Christmas vacation when Caroline and I were watching T.V. one night and a commercial came on advertising a “Buy One, Get One Free” special on My Pillows. And I am a sucker for a BOGO. Plus Caroline said, “Oh Mom! We should try those pillows! They’re the official pillow of the National Sleep Foundation!”

Which just goes to prove the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

So I went on the website and ordered them. They arrived a little over a week ago in a package that was so small that I didn’t even realize it was the new pillows until I opened it up. I pulled one of them out of the plastic packaging and tested it to see what I thought. And I’ll be honest, my initial assessment was that it was the jankiest pillow I’ve ever felt. Like if I’d tried it out at Bed, Bath and Beyond I would have dropped it and run the other way. It basically felt like the opposite of excellence.

But I kept thinking about all the promises from the website. It helps with neck pain and fibromyalgia and sleep apnea! Granted, I suffer from none of those things but still. I tucked Caroline in with her new My Pillow and she came out of the room about ten minutes later and said, “There is no way I can sleep on that thing. It’s so uncomfortable.” So we switched her back to her normal pillow.

However, I wanted to see for myself. I traded out my pillow for the My Pillow and laid there for about five minutes as I thought how it felt a little bit like I was lying on styrofoam peanuts. But, next thing I knew, I was sound asleep and woke up in the morning feeling refreshed. I decided it was probably just because I was so tired that I would have slept like that even if my head wasn’t resting on the official pillow of the National Sleep Foundation.

So I tried it again the next night and the next night and every night since because I keep waiting to decide it’s as uncomfortable as it seems to appear during the day. Yet I keep falling asleep on it and sleeping well. And I feel like the clock is ticking because there’s a 60 day money back guarantee. I’m just so intrigued that a pillow that feels so awful is allowing me to sleep. The whole phenomenon is fascinating, especially when you consider that I have tried and rejected so many other pillows over the years.

I can’t explain it.

But maybe the National Sleep Foundation is on to something.