Word: Snuggery

snuggery

or snuggerie

[snuhg-uh-ree]

noun, plural snuggeries. British.

1. a snug place or position.

2. a comfortable or cozy room.

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               “Get the camera!”  Mary called out as she dashed into the living room.  Evan looked up from the book he was reading and gave his wife a quizzical look.  She just repeated her demand and ran off, presumably to look for the camera herself.

                “What’s going on?”  Evan asked as he calmly placed his book on the coffee table and stood to join the search.

                “Just get the damn camera.”  She said again.

                Evan could tell she was in a hurry, but not in a panic.  That meant it was something that could end at any moment, just was not a threat to life or property in any way.  Which meant it was something to do with their one year old daughter, Heather.

                Unlike Mary, he actually remembered where the camera was, so it was not hard at all to find it.  When he had informed her of the discovery, she snatched it out of his hand and nearly ran to the toddler’s room. 

                By the time Evan got there, she was already busy taking pictures.  She took one, looked at it through the digital camera’s display, shook her head, moved, and took another one.  She repeated this process many, many times.

                Evan moved in closer to see exactly what was holding Mary’s attention so well.  Heather was taking a nap, curled up in the snug, comfortable embrace of a large, oversized stuffed teddy bear his mother had gotten her.  One hand was held up to her mouth with her thumb gently between her lips.  The other was wrapped around a normal sized pink stuffed bunny given to the child by Mary’s parents. 

                Not only was she in a position practically chosen for maximum cuteness, she was dressed in a pink onesie with a rainbow print on the front—a gift from Mary’s brother and his family.  Her light brown hair was adorned with a small red and white polka-dot bow that had been given to her by Evan’s sister.  The whole thing was nearly engineered to be posted online and used by the masses as an example of an adorable baby.  Sometimes Evan wondered if Heather did things like that for that exact purpose, or if it just came naturally for her. 

                Whatever Heather’s intentions were—if there were any—Evan could not doubt how cute she looked in that position.  He could hardly blame Mary for wanting to hurry up, considering how short the toddler’s naps could last.  Still, his wife was going a bit overboard with the pictures.

                “Think you have enough yet?”  He asked.

                “No.  There can never be enough pictures.  I mean, just look at her.”  Mary said, even as she snapped a few more pictures. 

                “Yes, I know, she’s adorable.  But you still want to save some room on the memory card for later, right?  I mean, this isn’t the last time she’ll do something photo worthy, is it?”

                Mary reluctantly lowered the camera as she admitted he was right.  She moved in close to her husband and he draped his arm around her shoulder.  They watched their daughter sleep for a moment.  The girl let out a tiny little whiny sound and started kicking her legs slightly.  Evan had to fight to keep Mary from switching the camera to video recorder.  

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  Sometimes I think babies do cute things like this on purpose.  I bet it's to counter all the gross things they also do.  You know, throwing up everywhere and pooping all the time.  you know, things like that.