Making the Bed

For years I thought the notion of making the bed every day was pointless, even a waste of time. The bed is used everyday and therefore must be made every day. Besides, why make the bed when the rest of the room is such a mess? My husband and I both have our piles of clothes that are "clean enough to wear again". There are toys and stuffed animals that have somehow migrated to our bedroom. Shoes that didn't quite make it to the shoe rack are also strewn across the floor. In the midst of that mess, what is the point of making the bed?

Not that I didn't ever make the bed. Of course everyone knows you make your bed when you are expecting company, especially the kind of company that might want to see your bedroom. If the company wouldn't mind the master bedroom door staying firmly closed, then the bed could remain in its usual state of messiness. I also made my bed when I was inspired yet again to have a clean and beautiful master bedroom, but that rarely lasted very long.

Then I read an article regarding making the bed. The article mentioned that the bed is the single largest object in the room. By making the bed, the master bedroom would appear to be 75% clean without picking up the rest of the mess. Amazing! Even if most of my house is in chaos and disorder, I could have one room that looked 75% clean. By spending 1 minute making the bed, one part of my house could feel clean.

So today, our master bedroom is a mess. We currently have our piles of "still wearable" clothes, there are shoes on the floor and of course the constant littering of toys. The bedroom could desperately use a dusting and vacuuming. But the bed is made. My room looks 75% clean and I feel pretty good about that!

Confessions of Laziness

"Hello, my name is Tanya and I am a lazy homemaker." No, I have never attended "Lazy Homemakers Anonymous" or any similar such support group. At times, though, it seems like it might be appropriate to introduce myself this way.

Webster's defines a homemaker as "one who manages a home." What I generally do in my home could rarely be defined as managing. Chaos restraint, damage control or disaster clean-up might be better definitions. But manager? No.

Not that I don't have aspirations for the perfect, organized, neat and tidy home. I enjoy a "Good Housekeeping" magazine and imagine myself bringing my home to a state of beauty. Flipping through the pages, I see story after story where people conquer their homes and come out victorious. Then I put the magazine down and look at my house. Reality sets in yet again. My 4 year old and 6 year old girls do not seem to have the same aspirations. In fact, one might think they have concocted this evil plan to keep me from ever achieving this goal. 

So what do I do? Get up and determine to fight my way to the top of the list of best homemakers? No. I decide that instead of dejectedly observing the mess that we should just leave. Sanity will be maintained through avoiding the problem. As a family, we will go over to my parents' house and enjoy an evening in a nice clean house. The mess will still be here tomorrow. Right?