Wanna know how I spent the twins’ naptime today?
Putting clean sheets on the boys’ beds.
Seriously, the whole hour was consumed by putting sheets on three beds: twin bunks and a full size bed. AN HOUR, friends. Well, 50 minutes. To put sheets on three beds. The actual breakdown is probably closer to 45 minutes for the bunk beds, 5 minutes for the other one. Still, there were a lot of other things I could’ve accomplished in that time.
Ever consider where bunk beds came from? I have. I’ve also pondered his painful demise. Yes. His. Because it was certainly a man who invented those blasted things, knowing full well it’d be woman who would be changing the sheets the majority of the time.
We’ve had bunk beds in our house for almost a year, but we just stacked them two weeks ago. I’ve changed the sheets three times now. Every time I’ve damn near died. The first time was a near concussion, lifting my head too fast while trying to raise the mattress to tuck the sheets. The second time was the same day, when I came one step closer to a concussion by bashing my head off the ceiling while repeating the same process on the top bunk. (Yes, I’m aware of the definition of insanity.) The third time my socked foot slipped on the ladder while I was trying to smooth the wrinkles from the sheets and blankets and return all of the fuzzy friends to their happy home in the bed.
Repeat every week until the end of time.
To be fair, I totally get the functionality of bunk beds. I’ve toured a few war ships in my day; I get that sometimes function and practicality has to be a priority. We have three boys; space in our home needs to be used wisely as well. Aesthetic be damned, I guess. And, it’s a fun hideaway for all three; they’ll be entertained for hours, climbing up the ladder and hiding in the top bunk. So, it’s kind of a no-brainer and a necessary evil.
We kept their beds separate and both close to the floor for as long as we could, until they started asking us weekly how long until we could bunk them. It made sense to stack their beds; they’re getting bigger and they’re playing in their room more and more, and they need the floor space. And they’re doing really well with the change. Clearly, changing sheets has no effect on their perception of the intricacies of making a bed without headroom. What do they know? They’re three feet tall.
Just make sure my tombstone reads, “it was those damned bunk beds.”
xoxo,
~d
Today and To-Merrow 