Saturday, November 6, 2010

Snuggie Update

The Snuggie that my brother got for me last winter has gotten some excellent use. All through the winter and into the spring, it typically ended up stolen from me by one of the kids as they watched TV. We've already broken it out this year; it came in handy a few weeks ago when an (otherwise dignified) houseguest wore it during a chilly afternoon soccer game.

Of course, it had reached its apex when I wore it during my Rituxan treatments. The monoclonal antibody, you will recall, is made from mice genes, and in my Benadryl-induced haze had me fantasizing about my wife dressed up as Minnie Mouse.....


Well, now that it's Snuggie season again, I thought I'd give you a quick update on what's been happening in the world of Snuggies.

Apparently, the new trend in pub crawls (moving from bar to bar over the course of an evening) is the "Snuggie Pub Craw"l; this web site is devoted to the practice -- pictures, video, a schedule of upcoming events...very impressive.

According to the site, there was a Snuggie Pub Crawl in New Haven, sponsored by the Yale School of Medicine class of 2011. Which doesn't give me much hope for my medical future.

You will also find a large variety of Snuggie rip-offs in the world. Don't be fooled -- only the original Snuggie will keep you warm and cozy. Still, I have to admire those who go beyond the Snuggie, who can take that basic concept and make it into something special. Which is why I admire the Peekaru, a kind of fleece blanket that envelopes a baby being carried kangaroo-style by mom. Hard to describe, but it looks like this:



Isn't that awesome? When I was a baby, I was just cold all the time. And my poor kids didn't have it much better. I remember going to a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field with Isabel and Peter, when Peter was only 11 months old. It was early April, and we had cheap seats, way up under the roof, out of the sun. Must have been 45 degrees. And Chicago-windy. Peter had lost his mittens somewhere along Michigan Avenue, so we put a little pair of socks on his hands and fed him his first hot dog while we all froze.

I'm just saying, a Peekaru would have been really nice back then.

Especially in leopard-print.

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