When I first rejoined the work force after having my girls, my manager at the bank was a lovely Jamaican woman. She would tell us stories of her life in Jamaica, before she came to the states.

One of the ‘lessons’ she gave us, was telling us how her mother told her, to never leave the house without making her bed, and putting on clean underwear, BECAUSE, if you got hit by a car and they had to bring you home and put you in your bed, that bed needed to be made, and your underwear needed to be clean!

Making my bed before I leave for the day is something I always make sure to do, but not because I’m worried someone is going to bring me home and put me to bed. No, I make my bed for another reason.

Some people, when they sleep, are restless and move all over the place. They get up in the morning and their bed coverings are all over the place. It looks like a WWE match took place there.

You gotta smooth those covers out, and make that bed look nice.

I’m not (at this menopausal stage of my life) what could be termed a ‘restful’ sleeper. What that means is most nights, I sleep, but I wouldn’t consider it a deep sleep. I wake up frequently, to shift positions, or flip that pillow over, or get up to pee. But even in my restlessness, I take care with those covers.

Maybe it comes from the days of kids climbing in bed with me, or the days when both dogs slept on the bed. Whatever the reason, most mornings I can get up and my bed mostly looks made.

We have dog beds all over the house. Two in the living room (plus the dog’s couch,) one dog bed in my room, and a crib mattress (that doubles as a dog bed) also in my room.

And yet, there’s a certain dog in my home, that loves to snuggle down on the Mama’s bed, when the Mama is at work.

I’m truly okay with that. Both dogs are in those senior years where I really want them to have comfortable, happy lives.

What I don’t want, is for my bed to be mussed and trussed like it’s a Thanksgiving turkey. Nor do I want to climb into my bed and have the sheets look like someone dumped a container of chocolate sprinkles on them.

After that fiasco, and having to change my bed sheets at bedtime, I started making my bed in the morning.

For Delilah.

I determined, based upon her habit of pulling the bedspread back, and sleeping on the sheets, that she likes the feel of the sheets.

And while it’s true, I want her to be happy and comfortable, I also don’t want to have to change the sheets every night, so I came up with a compromise.

Okay, you don’t have to point out that I am the one compromising. I understand that. She is after-all a dog, and has no verbal negotiating skills. Unless you count her barking, groaning, sighing….okay, so she does have some verbal skills, but NO reasoning skills. Of course, she’d argue she has reasons for ALL her skills.

Sigh.

Back to the subject at hand.

I had an old, over-sized queen sheet, and my little futon (if I’m being generous,) is a full-size bed.

You follow?

So every morning, I get up, walk both dogs, and then come home and make my bed for the day.

For Delilah.

Yes, I always make my bed before leaving the house, but I don’t make it for me, I make my bed for my dog.

What do you do to spoil your pets?