The Bad Bed Fairy

My children grew up with the expectation that you made your bed in the morning. If school mornings got too hurried, the “Bed Fairy” stepped in and made their beds—but that was to be the exception. Behind that rule was the expectation that learning to manage their rooms would eventually help them manage their lives. Ditto for other chores, like helping with dishes and taking out the garbage.
I grew up the same way. I never questioned the discipline, but knew I felt better about life when my room was clean. Not until I went to college and was assigned to dorm rooms with messy women did I realize some simply didn’t care. One roommate had a habit of leaving just-washed sheets in a heap on her bed while she went off and socialized for the evening while I studied. She usually returned well past bedtime. Not wanting to be awakened by her “bed-making duty,” I quietly made up her bed. Over and over.

One night, however, I was a bad bed fairy. I made her bed, all right, but “short-sheeted” it, pulling the top sheet up halfway so she couldn’t push her feet to the bottom. When she came back to the room (late, of course) and discovered my trickery, we had a good laugh. And I did show good will by re-doing her bed—the right way.

I never gave much thought to the division between “makers” and “messies” until reading an article recently that quoted published “life coaches.” Their conclusion: making your bed every morning (as 60% of the population does) has some amazing life benefits:

*A boost in happiness, including helping dispel gloom if you come home from school or work after a not-so-good day.

*A sense of organization for the rest of the day, helping you feel more motivated and even more productive. That’s because it’s a tiny task you can complete with visible results, energizing you to do another, and another, and…

*The establishment of a “keystone habit” that helps encourage good habits in other parts of one’s life. Among them: stronger skills at sticking to a budget.

I didn’t make this up! This is all straight from the keyboards of “life coaches” who get paid to tell people how to live better. Making your bed—who would have known?

Now, don’t throw your pillows at me. I won’t charge a penny for this friendly advice. I will quote another wise person: “Listen to advice and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days” (Proverbs 19:20).