One of my least favorite chores is changing sheets on top bunks. I hate it. It's awkward. It annoys me that it takes twice as long as the other beds. A few days ago, one of our top bunkers came downstairs to announce he'd had an accident. When I went up to assess the damage (at a more reasonable hour), I found that the wet spot was pretty small. My first thought:
Seriously, do I really have to change the sheets? That's a pretty small spot.
So, as any adept and responsible mother would do, I posted a question on facebook to check the official facebook consensus and found that it really pays to have slacker facebook friends, or at least friends who encourage you down the road of slackerhood (that's a word, right?).* There are a lot of reasons not to change slightly peed on sheets. Apparently, if the offense is not dead center on the bed, you're clear. If you've washed the sheets recently, it's really best not to stress them by overwashing. You can turn on the ceiling fan and just let it dry up. And my favorite - it depends on whose bed was defiled. That's a great point. If it's my bed, this discussion is unnecessary.
So, thanks to the influence of my slacker internet friends, 36 hours later the bed is still in the process of being changed. Here's the process so far.
Morning of offense: Sheets stripped and washed but forgot (possibly on purpose) to make bed.
Night after offense: Put culprit to sleep in sleeping bag
2nd morning after offense: Culprit wakes at 6:00 because his blanket is not cozy. Translation - he can't figure out how to get back into his sleeping bag
2nd night after offense: Mother has forgotten to put clean sheets on again but does remember the 6:00 a.m. sleeping bag debacle of the previous night and puts culprit to bed on bare mattress with a blanket on top. Mother prays he doesn't have an accident as scrubbing a mattress sucks worse than changing a top bunk.
I may hold out until my mom gets here for Christmas. In my experience, grandmothers tend to care more than mothers about whether their little people sleep on sheets.
* Concerning slacking off on chores, it does not pay to have an excessively tidy father as your Facebook friend.
** I do understand that it took me five times as long to write this post as it would have to change the sheets.
You are hilarious!! Last comment soooo true ;-)
ReplyDeleteDianna
I hear you about the upper bunks. Ugh. We actually CUT both of our girls' loft beds down to regular height and my life has been easy-street ever since (ok, not exactly).
ReplyDelete1 long word for you: hospital-grade-pads.
I lucked out when somebody gave me a whole stack of them. They are SUPER durable (washable), but have a cloth top, so you can just put a flat sheet or blanket over them, and they're comfy-ish to sleep on. And if you're super lazy, I mean efficient, you can put more than one layer, so when one gets wet, you just strip it off and reveal the one below. Between the layers of pads, a bed-sized thin blanket that doesn't have to be stretched around the mattress is a nice touch.
Your dedicated fan from...
Moms Against Mattress Scrubbing.
The best mattresses for bunk beds for children is not the same as the best mattress for an adult. There are many things you have to consider in choosing the best mattress that fits the needs of children. These are the most important things you should prioritize when buying a mattress for children.
ReplyDeleteI just laughed at the beginning of your post as I couldn't agree more. But then your final comment had me truly laughing out loud. I know that's true in my family.
ReplyDeleteSorry that was Russ and Em ( I was signed in under my husband.)
ReplyDeleteET Papa: my mom ironed my sheets (and my underwear). WWPD
ReplyDelete