Princess and the Pea

Growing up, my parents always joked that I was Princess Pea. If you are not familiar with the folk tale, the story goes as this, “A Queen put a pea under the mattress as a test to see if the young women would feel it. After all, only a real Princess would be so delicate that she would notice a small pea. The women did indeed, feel it under her mattress. As a result, the Queen allowed the young women to marry her son, a prince” (summary of Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen). It goes without saying that when I was younger there would be times I could not sleep because I was not comfortable in my bed.

Sometimes it would be too cold in my room. Other times it would be too hot. Then, it was the texture/feeling of my comforters that would keep me awake, as certain textures would irritate my skin. Or a pebble or dust particle would be in my bed. It was a whole ordeal. I can remember some of the moments quite vividly.

Fast forward to nearly 20 years later, and I still have moments where I get uncomfortable and cannot sleep. The most recent experience was a couple weeks ago when I washed my comforter. A blanket I have had since college when suddenly the texture was no longer soft and comfy. Rather, the texture was dry and fizzy. In turn, this bothered my skin and I could no longer use it. I had washed this blankets plenty of times before and it always came out soft and fluffy.

Then the next weekend, I tried putting it back in the washer. And when I took it out, I thought it was back to new. It felt soft again. I was relieved. After all, has been my favorite blanket to date. However, during the night, I feel a strange sensation. The fuzziness of the blanket felt itchy against my skin. So I woke up in the middle of the night to examine my bedding and that is when I noticed that a bigger portion of the blanket was now dry and fuzzy. It was at least two times as much. I tried rotating the blanket but that did not do anything to help the matter. So I folded up the blanket and used a much lighter blanket, in the meantime. Or until, I could buy another comforter. Overall, it left me with more questions than answers. It was such a strange phenomenon that it left me in disbelief.

Any who, When I told my parents about this situation, they again brought up how I am Princess and the Pea. I guess they are not wrong, but I think they might have been wrong about the Princess part. Maybe I will tell them one day but in the meantime, I will keep letting them think I am a Princess (just kidding). However, I have recycled and reused my comforter. It may no longer be soft enough for my bed but it is now my rug. Something did come out of this.

“Your sensitivity is your strength. The way you feel and love, your vulnerability and rawness—that is your power, your purpose”

•Marisa Donnelly