MAKE YOUR BED!!! How many times did you hear that as a child? OR…..how many times have you said that as a mother? With its resounding reminder that we must be sloppy if we don’t make our beds. Some will go as far as to say if we didn’t make our beds as children, we show early signs of slothfulness as adults. I must agree that, if bed making was the only chore we had to do in our childhood-it is a good thing.
Early in my son’s high school career he went before an interview board for a study abroad program. One of the screening questions was “do you make your bed everyday?” It could have been the determining question of whether he made the cut or not (which he didn’t). The point being was this group of individuals were searching for a certain level of maturity. And that responsibility was one in a whole list of things these particular folks wanted to know. Could he see the value in such a simple task? There is GREAT value in such a simple task. And, it’s not just young adults who often fail to see the value of the oft imposed activity, it literally is the very young and adults who fail to see that “inbedded” (no pun intended!) in this chore is an opportunity to raise your self esteem, exercise a skill, do something good, and yes……check one thing off your “to-do” list everyday. As this video states, at the end of a rough day, when you don’t feel as if you have accomplished much, you can fall into a nicely make bed ans suddenly all the worries seem to fade from the day. Watch this video to encourage you to make your bed if you want to change the world by doing the little things, https://youtu.be/U6OoCaGsz94 .
There are numerous videos that can be found for making your bed on line. Please!….for those of you who DON’T make your beds, I am not making fun of you! I do realize there are some folks who have never been taught or just plain DON’T like to make your bed! OK!! But for those who love all that domestic stuff and really, in your heart of hearts feel it a service to yourself and others to do domestics… GO FOR IT! I watch videos all the time on how to do things a different way or a new way! I personally learned from my mother who was a MASTER at bed making…..and SOOOOO many other things homemakers did.
I like to think of all domestics chores as being a “good thing” for not only my soul but my body ….a body that is in motion STAYS in motion. In fact, I have come to the realization that if I spend the time cleaning as my mother did, making beds, cleaning floors laundry etc., I would burn more calories and NOT have to worry about going to the gym as often. When I clean my house “old school”, it’s a workout! And at the end of the day, I truly understand dropping into my bed exhausted is one of the best feelings around! I bring up a new challenge to the generation behind me: if you were to spend as much time DOING those small mundane chores as opposed to THINKING AND COMPLAINING about them….they would be done! MOST house hold chores just take MINUTES every day. Go ahead! time your self when doing them! Mere minutes…. chunked up into little pieces makes the overall task list VERY DOABLE!
And…. making your bed presents a finished product that will reap multiple results! It will make you feel better if that is the only thing you get done during the day, creates a great example for your kids watching your EVERY move, makes your house look like its in order, and brings peace to you at night as you crawl in.
Take five minutes to make your bed every day. It’s the one thing that you can do for yourself and family that can present order in a chaotic world. Find peace in that one task. And…..remember the old wives tale about why you should wear clean underwear every day?…….well it’s the same with making your bed!