When the children were old enough, I decided they could earn an allowance by doing chores. My daughter immediately claimed making the bed was a chore. I decided to run with that one and handed out fresh bedding to all of the children. They were to strip the bedding, toss it down the laundry chute and make their beds.
My daughter finished in record time. My boys on the other hand had some trouble. I found them sitting on the top bunk scratching their heads over the sheets.
|
Thoughtful head-scratching. |
I explained the fitted sheet went on the bottom, the top sheet of course went on the top. They didn't look too impressed with my explanation, but climbed off the top bunk and went back to work.
I checked back a little while later and found two happy boys, sitting on freshly made beds. Ah... if only everything was so simple.
At bedtime, I noticed two sheets neatly folded on the desk. The boys were already falling asleep so I did a cursory check. Yes, both boys had fresh bedding that matched what I gave them. Perhaps we had 3 sets of the same sheets. Stranger things happen around here.
The next morning, my wife watched as the boys made their beds and discovered the extra sheets.
She called me in and asked, "What did you do?"
Flummoxed, I shrugged.
She explained to the boys: "That's ok, but when you make a bed, you put two sheets on each bed."
The boys protested. "Dad told us to put the top sheet on top and the fitted sheet on the bottom. So we did."
My wife replied "Yes..." and cracked up. They put the top sheet on the top bunk and the fitted sheet on the bottom bunk.