With good intentions I have often written or half-written some posts in the past and SHOCK never posted them. You too? Well, when the blog gets thin, anorexic even, then maybe it is time to revisit the drafts…
From 6/5/2014 I finally post:
Making your bed is good for your health
I love this bed!
I can hear someone out there laughing, and another asking, What are you? My Mother? Yet another is balking that I should even bring this up on the Farmlet blog.
Your mother often told you to do it, and some of you did, because you always did what your mother told you to do, and of course now it is an ingrained habit to do so.
Some of you may not have ever been bidden to do it and you grew up and realized that it was rather nice to see a neat and tidy bed. You find that it is an inviting place to slumber at the end of a hectic day.
Some of you may never do it, unless company is coming, although you may be one who at least straightens out the covers. Anyone who has ever crawled into a disheveled bed can tell you, that it is impossible to get the covers over your entire body if you haven’t, at a minimum, straightened them out… and forget about it if there are two trying to get comfortable in that pile of bed-covers!
Some of you, like my husband’s Aunt Betty, are over achievers. She ironed the sheets and pillowcases before making the bed! Heck, she even ironed her towels too!
So, I wonder, which one are you? (BTW, you don’t have to answer that) 😀
And for as many reasons as there are for making the bed, or not, there are styles of making the bed AND as many or more types of coverings.
- Hospital
- Military
- Hotel
- Sheets tucked
- Sheets not tucked
- Pillows folded into the coverlet
- Bedspread
- Quilt
- Duvet,
- And, let’s not forget the lots of extra pillows (of which there is no use for them other than they show how much money you could afford to invest on your bed in an effort to make it look like a magazine cover.) Those who can, do. 😉
~*~
Well, back to why making the bed is good for your health.
This morning I went in to tidy the bed and found a bit of leaf on the blanket. I picked it up and thought, This looks odd.
I poked it with my fingernail and then flipped it over, whereupon it sprouted eight legs, like a micro-mini-transformer, and flipped right back over to walk across my palm!
Shrieking, I ran for the bathroom, dropped it into the toilet and flushed it… TWICE!
Moral of this story? It is healthy to make your bed before you get into it, because you never know what may be lurking there! Oh yes, and it might be a good idea to not let your cats sleep there even if you have doused them with flea and tick killer.
~*~
Here is a tie in blog post wherein a kitty (that looks remarkably like my old kitty Claus) purrforms many household chores and even makes his own bed! HERE
Life on the Farmlet 
With a bed as beautiful as that and your exquisite quilts, of course you would make it!
Annie, to be sure! Too bad it isn’t mine. Ours is a good mattress and box springs on a “free” adjustable metal frame. We can’t complain it is very comfortable and up off of the floor.
I would love to see your photos illustrating each of the many ways to Make A Bed!
Pam, I’d like to see those too! Alas, there will be no photos of the many ways to make a bed. I was just able to sleep in ours this past week. After knee replacement surgery on Oct. 3rd, just sleeping flat was a victory and the bed “straightening” (no tucking) is left for Bob each morning. My hero! ❤
At first, I thought you were pondering the mental health benefits of bed-making. Then, I remembered a commencement speech given at the University of Texas in Austin in 2014. It was quite something to hear Admiral McRaven
talking to the graduates about bed-making, but it’s one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard. It’s a little long, but spending 20 minutes with a truly inspirational speaker isn’t the worst use of time in the world!
Thank you, Linda. I learned to fold my underwear in Navy boot camp in ’73. It still gets folded with “a single, smooth, fold facing forward and against the bulkhead” (side of drawer). Until then all my things just went into the drawer and were dug for when wanted. The power of discipline!
I look forward to viewing your video on bed making… but need to do it tomorrow. Why? Short explanation: Knee replacement (8/3) just able to sleep in my bed this past week (ahhh…) therapy is working the knee recovery but killing the hip. Sitting at my computer desk is doable this week but limited in duration. Two steps forward, one step back. 🙂
Lololol I always have an unmade bed I sleep under a single large throw or a down comforter in coldest Winter. Most of the year I sleep without a cover. Tina always uses a comforter and folds it in the morning. Fun post
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Thomas, people who sleep with no covers don’t live in the deep south, LOL! I need at least a sheet as barrier between me and the little nighttime blood suckers. Over the years we have become better at keeping the majority of them out of the house. But, it only takes one to make life uncomfortable…
Full disclosure: I make it every . single . day. I’d get severe side-eye from the dog if I didn’t, but that’s beside the point. And because I live in a tropical climate, it’s fitted bottom sheet, flat top sheet (untucked), heirloom hexie quilt, thin cotton waffle blanket (to protect the quilt from the doggo, who ‘owns’ the bed during the day) and four pillows each, two of which are for propping up in bed to read and get thrown out afterwards. The top two pillows have scrappy patchwork covers for pretty, the rest have pillowcases. I confess, I am a creature of habit, but I do adhere to the principles expounded by Admiral William McRaven.
LOL, Kate, fitted sheets were a must after boot camp in Orlando, FL. (1973) I used to tuck in the top sheet, but my toes don’t like the pressure anymore. I’m with you, pillow shams finish the look when the bed is made! So, who needs a pile of superfluous, expensive, fancy pillows?
I am a bed maker. I can think of twice this year that I didn’t do it. Due to Forrest’s accident injuries, many times he has been more comfortable in his zero-gravity chair so I’ve taken the couch. I fold our blankets each morning and remove the pillows, taking it all back to the bedroom. There will come a day when he’s healed enough to sleep in our bed again. I am so ready for that… the couch has not allowed the best sleep for me.
It’s true what you say about insects. I’ve had to be proactive over the years to clean our guest rooms often and not keep sheets on the beds – just a coverlet or comforter atop, which I occasionally throw back to check for spiders. I do a thorough inspection before I house guests. And I’ve never allowed our dogs in any of the bedrooms, ours included. Oh, and I don’t kill spiders (unless it’s a black widow or a fiddleback), instead they get tossed outside. Well, unless they are those little fuzzy black house spiders. They get to stay. 🙂
LORI, So glad to see you here. I’m sending you an email later today. Love you. ❤
Glad to see your post! It was delightful why you should make your bed. BTW “mothers always know best”😁
Deb, Mom prodded, but the military nailed the discipline! Full confession: I was more than glad to switch to fitted sheets after basic training. 😉