Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Four sheets to the wind, or Another Study on Boys vs. Girl

I have decided after e-mailing an old friend that today is as good as any to start posting my old writing to my new blog. So if you've already read this forgive me!



This morning I told the kids we needed to wash the sheets today. That means I wanted them to remove their sheets and present them to the laundry room so I can get them going nice and early. There’s nothing like hitting 8:00 pm and realizing there are no sheets on the beds! Running a bit behind this morning, I headed into my room for a shower before school while the kids did their chores. Twenty minutes later, I emerged clean and ready for the day. I walked down the hall, looking into each of the kids’ rooms as I went. Here’s what I saw:


Little boys’ room: The sheets are off and nowhere to be seen, which is good. The comforters, pillows, and blankets are scattered all over the floor, as are the 83 books and the 27 toys that were previously on their beds. As an added bonus, there are a lot of clothing items sticking out of their partially-closed dresser drawers, and more than a couple of clothing items on the floor (Dirty or clean? Who knows?).

Big boys’ room: The sheets are off and nowhere to be seen, which is good. The comforters, pillows, and blankets are basically on the beds, hanging off the ends. The 23 books and the 7 toys that were previously on their beds (They are taller and need more room to sleep, after all!) are now crammed under their beds, thus leaving the floor fairly clear. The only visible clothes are the not-quite-dirty PJs, also either under the bed or stuffed between the bed and the wall. Not too bad, especially if they claim the mattress pads need to “air,” as I have previously mentioned to them when their room smelled like a locker room.

Girl’s room: The sheets are off and nowhere to be seen, which is good. The comforter, pillow, and blanket are neatly spread on the bed as if the bed has been made. It is so neat that I had to check to be sure she did not forget to take off the sheets. The books and toys are all where they belong: books in a neat stack on the bedside table and toys all put away wherever they go. The not-quite-dirty PJs are folded and placed neatly under the pillow.

All of them obeyed me. The 6 sets of sheets are now all washing at the same time in my enormous washing machine (Thank you Edwin and the smart men of the industrial revolution!), and we will not get to bedtime with sheetless beds. But these boy-girl differences are apparent. They are not trained in or altogether age-related. God made each of my children different, some of them very different! Only one of them will be called to be a mommy one day, and it’s nice to think that maybe she is getting ready for that, one neatly-made bed at a time!

Psalm 139:13-17
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

Here's a project for your boys:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-duct-tape-sword/
If we're using the good habit of making beds as an indicator for Mommy preparation, then I'm clearly not ready! I've decided that the impromptu body slams or snuggles throughout the day would make it futile for me to try. For me, I don't think that when I reflect back on my this time in my life I will be in want of memories of my neatly made bed to treasure. I'm fully aware that this outlook presents the problem of 'Do as I say, not as I do.' But for now, it's worth it.

Tracey said...

Thanks for the link - it's a great-looking project & perfect since all of the toy swords are now broken...

I agree, the neatly made bed is not what we (or our children) will remember (or care to!). But it's nice to see that sometimes something I say actually sticks with someone! ;-)