There are two kinds of people in this world: those who make their bed and those who don’t.
I make my bed every morning. After Phase One (the smoothing of the sheets and blanket) is complete, I move on to Phase Two, which involves circling the bed several times to make sure everything lines up correctly. The third and final phase is the plumping and centering of throw pillows, and often requires that I step back several feet into my own closet to achieve the optimal perspective before the bed can be called “made.” Though elaborate, the process is fail-proof and only takes twenty to thirty minutes.
The P-Dawg is not a bed maker. It wasn’t a requirement in his house growing up and get this – he didn’t even know what a flat sheet was until he married me.
“What are you saying, that you slept between the fitted sheet and the comforter like some kind of barbarian?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he said.
Recently I mentioned that I think it’s high time the kids started making their own beds every morning. It’s necessary, I believe, to instill a sense of order and responsibility and, more importantly, for me to get an extra ten minutes of aimless web surfing time per day.
“I think that’s a bad idea” the P-Dawg immediately replied.
“What?” I was aghast. “Why?”
“I don’t want them to end up like you.”
It’s true that the bed making has caused me undue stress at times, such as in emergency situations when I’ve had to leave the house in the morning before the chore is complete. I have, on occasion, come home late and found myself making my bed at eleven PM so I could go to sleep in it. But what difference does this make, as long as I appear normal to the naked eye when I’m out in public?
And so the P-Dawg and I remain at an impasse. I maintain that the state of a bed in its natural habitat is “made,” and he insists that a bed’s default state is “disheveled.” I think that bed making is an exercise in discipline which also helps clear the mind and prepare mentally for a new day, while the P-Dawg believes that the practice can only lead to a life of neuroses and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. (By the way, he believes that children should have responsibilities around the house, he just doesn’t think making their beds should be one of them.)
What say you? Did you have to make your bed as a kid? And if so, has it made you a compulsive freak?
I can not walk downstairs knowing that beds are unmade upstairs.
Dude, I mix whites and darks in my laundry. I am clearly unfit to be a parent, and surely am the shame of my fam. So you can only imagine if I make my bed daily. But the good news is, I’m not married to your hubs bc that would probably be very ugly!
muffintopmommy´s last [type] ..CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IS MORE FRIGHTENING THAN MY UNDERWEAR DRAWER
I did not make my bed as a child (though my mother did and is slightly obsessive with cleaning). I also continue to not make my bed or my children’s bed. Though I ALWAYS make the beds before company comes over. I don’t mind being in a slight state of chaos but I don’t want anyone else knowing about it =)
I didn’t have to make my bed as a teenager, but my husband did. I like the bed made and he doesn’t like the top sheet, hates the throw pillows and all that jazz. I don’t mind not making the bed, but I always make it before we go to bed.
domestic extraordinaire´s last [type] ..You Capture-Doorways
My mother was compulsive about the curtains being straight, because it looked like “shanty town” if they were visibly askew from the outside. Consequently I have very few real curtains in my house
I was taught to make my bed, but it was not required per se. Violet’s bed gets made when I wash her bedding, which is done with shameful infrequency. I make my bed everyday, even if it gets done right before I go to sleep. I don’t like getting into a messy bed. I am slightly compulsive about how the bedding is arranged, but this is only a problem when my husband decides to mess with me for his own amusement. I have been known to throw my body down on the bed to prevent him from “fixing it” for me.
Your bed looks so inviting. BECAUSE IT IS MADE (and because it is pretty!). I hate getting into an unmade bed. I feel like I’m on some one night stand at a fraternity house.
I try to make my bed every day, partly because when I’m walking to the stairs from the kids’ rooms I have to look into my room and when my bed is made it makes me feel so much calmer. If it is not made when it is time to go to bed, I will make it before going to bed (not the throw pillows… but I do straighten the covers and tuck everything in). My husband used to sleep in a pile of rags like a Dickens orphan. He also considers me compulsive and neurotic about the sheets and blankets and pillows, so I know what you’re dealing with.
Becca´s last [type] ..I liked it!
Would it freak you out if I told you that my bed looks so much like your bed that I’m freaked out. The sleigh bed, the white cover, the two little rectangular pillows, the matching nightstands, and even matching the lamps with white shades.
I make my bed every morning. I made my bed as a child. And I had to walk ten miles to school each day, uphill both ways, in the snow, in Los Angeles. What? It’s true.
My husband would not use a top sheet either but for me making him into a civilized human. His life is so much better now with a bed that looks like yours, um, mine, um, ours. I’m sure of this.
Cheri @ Blog This Mom!´s last [type] ..Part-Time Position Available
There should be a question mark at the end of my first sentence up there.
I’m not compulsive about punctuation or bed-making. What?
Cheri @ Blog This Mom!´s last [type] ..Part-Time Position Available
I do make my bed most mornings. Most of all because it makes me feel good. Like I can control one corner of neatness in my house. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t. But, I do get needing to.
JCK´s last [type] ..Why JCKs parenting is SUPERIOR
I have no desire to make my bed, and have never required my kids to make their beds. I just could care less! I never had to make my bed growing up either.
I’m afraid of the awful things that would happen to me if I did not make my bed. I don’t know what awful things and I do not want to find out. I do have friends that live on the precipice of this danger every day.but I would never chose to go there. I make my bed every single day no matter what. My teen not only makes his bed but I insist that he keeps his room tidy….I think that makes me me a “tiger cub” mom.
Not that it matters now of-course but I am a little surprised you and DH did not have the whole fitted sheet, made or unmade bed conversation prior to tying the knot…..
Fun read. Thank you!
♥
Katybeth´s last [type] ..Odd Word Invitational!
I make my bed just about every morning, and if on an off day it doesn’t get made in the morning, I do it in the afternoon. I make my kids beds every morning and once they are old enough to do it themselves, it will be part of their routine. It is so nice to turn the bed down in the evening instead of climbing into a heap!
Joy´s last [type] ..Small Things
TEACH ME YOUR WAYS, o wise one.
I mean, I’ve had to make my bed since I was little and an unmade bed was a sin, but I can never get it to look so neat. Unfortunately, my husband is from the non-bed-making tribe, meaning that every time he doesn’t make it, I develop another nervous tic.
Have you seen this?
http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2009/08/make-your-bed.html
Vicki´s last [type] ..Classes I wish I had been able to take in college
I had to make my bed as a child. Once I hit college, the best you could hope for was me to pull the sheets and comforter up to the top of the bed, but it was never fully made. I don’t bother anymore, unless I know I have company coming over, and then I very well may just shut the door to my bedroom.
However, if I am a guest at someone’s home, unless instructed otherwise, I will always take a few moments to make the bed, even though I know once I leave, all the sheets will be removed and washed.
Tom´s last [type] ..Experiencing Modern Mexican At Momocho
Pingback: Tweets that mention Did You Make Your Bed This Morning? | RimaRama -- Topsy.com
Hmm. I was expected to make my bed as a child, though perfection was not insisted upon. As an adult, though, I discovered the joys of a duvet, and yeah, I lost the top sheet. It is ever so much easier, and there’s less to get messed up. Shake out the duvet in the morning, and you’re done. I find that the flat sheet always ends up in a ball at the foot of the bed anyway.
magpie´s last [type] ..Whimsical Wednesday- Arch
I HAVE to make the bed. I know. Call me crazy, but i do.
vodkamom´s last [type] ..Learning – the Sweet and the Sour
Pingback: Friday Links | Vic tac ular
I was supposed to make my bed as a kid. Sometimes I did it and sometimes I forgot. Once I got my own place my bed was always made (I think I was neater in general now that everything was MINE). Still to this day I always make my bed, (although I don’t make the kids’ beds as neatly as I make mine I just pull up their sheets and blankets) it just always looks so much better. But I definitely wouldn’t be bothered too much if I skipped a day here or there.
I have started making my oldest make his bed. Sometimes he does it and sometimes he doesn’t. I don’t freak about it. Gentle reminders.
Kat´s last [type] ..WW- Moments
Personally, I think making the bed is a waste of time. But on the other hand, it’s better than screen time, so I make my kids do it.
marinka´s last [type] ..Cool
i make my bed once a week – when the sheets are clean. now that our bedroom is downstairs, I also make the bed before company comes over. But since we have boxes in every room of house, that’s not very often.
Painted Maypole´s last [type] ..my 2010
My parents were very strictly in the “you must make your bed every day camp”. I haven’t made my bed since I moved out when I was 17. I’m such a rebel
We didn’t have to make our beds as children but we knew how and when the sheets were clean, my bed got made. Over the last couple of months I have jumped on the bed making bandwagon even though that only means flipping the covers back up. I sleep alone. They don’t really get messed up. When I stay over at MRN’s house though, he thinks it weird that I make his bed. I’m just trying to keep up with good habits.
ginamonster´s last [type] ..Rambling