Making Your Bed In The Morning...

  Have you ever wondered if making your bed in the morning is overrated?  I am praying that my kids do not read this blog post before they are all out of the house.  As a returning college student, after twenty years, I can see why making ones bed in the morning does not seem as important as I have made it out to be over the last seventeen plus years of each of their lives.  I would venture to say, my twenty seven year old would probably agree as well. 

  However, the saying still goes, cleanliness is next to Godliness right?  That sounded so proper when I would whisper it to myself as I walked through my daily chore list while sending kids off to school,  not so much anymore.

 

  Here I sit in front of my computer, two weeks into my new college career and I have a completely new appreciation for my young adults who are either finishing off their high school career or just starting their adventure in college.  Oh how I forgot what it was like to be a student.  Granted, they are much younger then I am but there is still the stress of keeping up with the agenda of the teacher regardless of what is going on in and around your life.   

  I recently found myself miscalculating my morning and thought I would have time to get my son to school, my bed made and bags packed for my own class schedule.  It was not the case; I looked at my bed, shrugged my shoulders and said aloud as if my pillows were my audience, “making the bed is so overrated.”   I grabbed my purse, books and water bottle and headed out the door, hoping to be able to at least make it home before anyone found out I broke my own rule.

  I  debated for a second on whether I should tell my children my thoughts around making the bed first thing in the morning but then I thought I might loose some of my credibility as a mom.  I decided to keep that little tidbit to myself until the last one has flown the nest and then I will share how I feel about making the bed.  Do not get me wrong, I love when my bed is made first thing in the morning but do I find it a moral failure to leave it UN done, no and I should have never treated my children that way when they were younger.  What can I say, I was a mom navigating my way around parenting and training them in the way they should go.  Bed making 101, oh how I would do things differently.

  However, today, if I had a choice between making beds or eating breakfast together you bet it would be the later.  I would leave more space to sit with my kids, share about what is going on in their world, and I would be less concerned about dust bunnies, UN made beds and dirty floors.

  I know there is a greater lesson for me to learn as I step back into the classroom.  There is a big picture to be seen as I walk in the shoes of a student.  Only two weeks into the journey and I find myself with more compassion and empathy for my own kids that are students as well as others on the journey. 

  Everyday my brain is stretched as it has never been stretched before.  Everyday I find that I am trying to keep up with those who are ten and twenty years younger then me without competing or comparing.  Everyday I find that when I sit down with my red journal wide open to write the lessons I learned for the day, I could write for hours. 

  This going back to school is much more about me being given a second and third chance to do over what I did not think I could do the first time around.  This going back to school is about me getting the opportunity to connect with the next generation coming up in a non-threatening way.  This going back to school is about me understanding that I am much stronger then I ever believed I was and most importantly, this going back to school has allowed me to see that making my bed is highly overrated. 

Thank you for letting me share.

Cris