ON MAKING THE BED

For most of my life, I've been a proud anti-bed-maker.  It wasn't an act of rebellion from being forced to make my bed as a kid.  It wasn't that I enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to make my bed.  It was just that I was going to get back into it and mess it up again at the end of the day.  I didn't see the point.   I would estimate that my bed has been made less than 5% of my adult life.  

To contradict this, I have vague memories of a period of time (when I was single) when I made my bed and then slept on top of the made bed with a throw blanket on top of me.  In the morning, all I had to do was throw the blanket back on the couch and my bed was "made."  

Although I hadn't analyzed it much until now, this "make the bed and keep it made 24/7" phase is telling.  I do like the bed to be made.  I was just too lazy to do it.  

Out of the blue, Brian made our bed on a random day about two months ago.  

I had no idea what prompted him to do it, but I liked it.  Our room felt like a bit of a refuge from the general kid chaos that always takes over the rest of the house.  Our room felt calm and I'm always a fan of calm. 

So, I made the bed the next day and that evening Brian told me how much he liked it.  

It has been made almost every day since.  

I think the thing is that once the bed is made, the room feels put together.  It makes me want to keep the rest of the bedroom tidy and organized.  No piles of laundry - clean or dirty.  No random piles of papers on top of my dresser. A made bed is a catalyst for keeping things neat.  It makes me want to find similar motivations in the other rooms of our house.      

As an added bonus, our daily bed-jumping and tickling sessions always have a nice, photo-ready backdrop.  

And, to follow up on my "lazy" comment above, I should note that we sleep with just a fitted sheet and a duvet.  So, making the bed is as simple as straightening the duvet cover over our pillows and calling it done.  It's almost as simple as throwing that throw blanket back on the couch and I'll proudly admit to it because simple means I'm willing to do it and if it were more complicated I probably wouldn't.