Making the bed

Do you make your bed every day?  I didn't used to.  I figured there was no point considering I was just going to be getting back in to it again at the end of the day.  Plus?  Back when I had to be somewhere at an early hour every day, I wasn't willing to get up the extra 5 minutes early that it would have taken me to make the bed.

Then I started working part time, and I didn't have my no-time-in-the-morning excuse anymore, so I started making my bed.  After I had children, making my bed became an important daily ritual.  You see, if I made my bed in the morning, no matter what else happened that day, at least I had accomplished that one thing.  Those of you with children, maybe you understand.  Plus, if I made my bed in the morning, no matter what happened in the rest of the house (hundreds of legos dumped out all over the floor, paper shreds everywhere, you get the idea...) at least that one room of the house was tidy.  If the bed was made, I had a retreat from the chaos that often ruled in my world.

So, for the last 13 or so years of my life, I've been making my bed just about every morning.  Just recently, I discovered, after 16+ years of marriage, that my husband does not like to have the sheet and blankets tucked in on his side of the bed.  Really!  How could anyone *not* like to have everything all tucked in nicely?  And he's the one who always (OK, not always...and not even frequently...I'd have to say it's more...occasional...rarely, even) talks about how he loved it when his mommy used to tuck him in snugly at night.  I'm the one who hangs her legs outside of the bed at night (is that too much information?)  It doesn't quite compute.

Since this discovery, I've been not-tucking Hubby's side of the bed.  If he's noticed, he hasn't mentioned it, but it's a little thing, and if it makes him more comfortable, I'm all for it.

My children do not make their beds.  At 11 and 8, the older two certainly ought to be capable, but I've given them a pass because one of them sleeps in a loft and the other sleeps in a bunk bed.  Have you ever tried to make a bed while you're on the bed?  It's not an easy task.  I feel like I'm neglecting my motherly duty, not teaching them how to make a bed...maybe I'll send 'em to military school or something...but to me, it's not worth fighting over.

Just recently, however, I started not-tucking one side of MC's bed when I change his sheets.  He's on the bottom bunk, and I've just been tucking the far side--over by the wall, leaving the side he gets in on free.  And guess what!  The bed stays much neater!  The tucked-in side stays tucked, so all MC needs to do in the morning to "make" his bed is pull the other side up toward the head of the bed.  Wow.  So easy.  And I never knew.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work on my bed, since we've got people getting in from both sides (and the person with the tucked side likes to hang her leg out).

By the way, if the whole one thing/one room/retreat from chaos justification for making the bed doesn't sway you, consider this: a recent study showed that people who make their beds sleep better.  Mom was right: better make your bed!