The Mom Blog is written by moms (and a couple of dads) in Orange County. 
Why does anyone bother to make their bed?
April 21st, 2008, 1:00 pm · 14 Comments · posted by Marla Jo Fisher
Do you make your bed in the morning? And, more importantly, why?
Sorry. I can’t really see the point.
Many years ago, when I had a few psychological problems (unlike today when I have a lot more) I went to see a therapist. This woman had heard it all over the years: Mothers who beat their children. Firefighters addicted to pornography. I felt confident I could tell her anything.
Then, one day I revealed that I never make my bed.
“You never make your bed?” she asked, gasping, with a horrified look on her face.
Finally, she had a psychological disturbance she could really sink her teeth into.
The shame of that moment still burns, but I remain unconvinced.
I mean, you mop the floor so you don’t get gross little crunchy things stuck to the bottom of your feet. You scrub the bathtub so you don’t have to bathe in dirty water. You wash the dishes so you don’t catch diseases. But why do you need to make your bed? You just get back into it in a few hours, anyway.
I mean, if I’m having a party I will make the bed, so people have a tidy surface to throw their coats on, also so my guests are misled about the quality of my housekeeping. But otherwise, forget it. Unless my mother comes to visit. Then, I have to make my bed or she will go in and make it for me.
There’s nothing like being 51 years old and having your Mommy make your bed for you.
My mother was raised poor in hardscrabble Texas during the Great Depression. In those days, according to my mom, you could divide white people in her neighborhood into two classes: (1) Respectable folks who happen to be poor and (2) White trash.
And, apparently, the dividing line between those two is whether or not you make your bed and leave dishes in your sink. My mom has never gotten over the fact that she raised a daughter who’s white trash.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I haven’t made my bed in years. Of course I have people who do that for me. Does that count?
April 21st, 2008 at 3:16 pm
After they’re done, could you send them over to my house?
April 21st, 2008 at 9:50 pm
No bed-making here, unless we’re having company.
What’s the freaking point? I’m right there with you.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:50 am
No point to it unless someone is coming over and will look in your room! I just straighten it out before I get back into it at night.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:02 am
I made it a habit to make my bed every day, right after I go to the bathroom. It’s like brushing my hair or brushing my teeth. It feels good when I see it. It is, after all, the focal point in the most important room in the house for my husband and me. Guess I’m from the Old School. I like to make my husband happy. But It sure comes back around!
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:01 am
I make my bed everyday, because Martha Stewart told me to. I’m not kidding. I either read or saw her on TV and the message I got was it’s the least you can do - it stuck. Scary. because I’m not even a Martha Stewart fan.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 am
Gotta make the bed! Can’t sleep in crunkled up sheets! Can’t stand the way it makes the whole room look messy! But that’s me…
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I really appreciated your article. Im a little bit of both. For years I’ve asked the same question. Someone once told me that if you make your bed - you cut down on the dust and little spiders that float around the room all day. Apparently, it keeps your bedding and pillows cleaner so that you only have to wash them once in a while rather than once a week…… So they say.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:05 am
I’m too busy to make the bed every day. But I do pull the covers back every day to air it out because the real sin - and I dare you to write about THIS - is how long I procrastinate about washing the sheets. I hate washing the sheets. My late grandmother, who used to iron her sheets, would die a second death of shame if she knew.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:03 am
I would make the bed but my husband is in it when I leave the house. Maybe I can get him to…nevermind.
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
The only time by bed ever gets made is when I put new sheets on. I might make it more if it was in a more visiable part of the house and if my bedroom was otherwise an attractive room that was visible from the rest of the house. I think it evokes a psychological sense of completion for some people.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:54 am
My husband or I make my bed every morning. I always have and I think it is because my parent’s made me when I was younger. When I moved out on my own I felt it made my room look less messy when the bed was made.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I would make the bed but my husband is in it when I leave the house. Okay that is my favorite commetn of this thread, ha.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Okay so am I warping my children for life because I dont’ make THEM make their beds?