"Did you make your bed yet?" I must have asked my kids this question 872 times by now. And usually the reply is, "Not yet..." So I recently switched it up a little.
I added a little incentive. If they make their bed without being asked, there is a dollar on the table available to split amongst all 4 of our kids if they all make their beds ($0.25 each) or maybe only one of them remembers -- then they would get the whole dollar all to themselves.
Believe it or not, it's our 4-year-old who is the most consistent with getting her bed made. And this week she's already made about $3!
"Experts" say that making your bed is one of the single most important things you can do to start your day off right. That and drinking a cup of Motivāt Coffee, of course ;)
Admiral William McRaven (author of Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life... And Maybe The World) says this:
"If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed."
So it might seem like a small thing. And I know my kids think it is laborious and ridiculous, but I hope I'm instilling in them a proper way to approach their day and the world in general. Something Jordan Peterson said always sticks in my mind: “If you can't even clean up your own room, who the hell are you to give advice to the world?"
Agreed. So... did you make your bed yet?
-Collin