Make Your Bed - Sunday Selfie

Awhile back, Adm. William H. McRaven started a commencement speech this way, "If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed."

I never saw the sense of making my bed until the last decade. After all, you're just going to climb into that same bed in a few hours anyway. 

The first thing to change my mind and my habits was noticing the delight of climbing into a bed after I change the linens. "Ahhh," I think as I sniffed the sun dried scent. "Clean sheets."  

After that, I made my bed more days than not.

Then I read one of those little motivational commentaries that our search engines toss up every day. It assured me that making my bed would revolutionize my life, even if I made the bed 5 minutes before I climbed in for the night!  That's crazy talk!

So I make sure my bed is smooth and nest before I climb in at night. Here are 5 ways that making my bed makes a difference in my day.

1. I feel cared for. Hub and I sleep in separate rooms because of back conditions and huge snoring issues - both of us snore hugely!  So, why bother?  The fact that I do bother means that someone cares enough to make my bed. Sure, that someone is me. I still feel that I am worth caring for. Make your bed.

2. That piece of discipline, if done early in the day, sets me off in a "getting things done" mode. I get the message that the day has started. Make your bed for a good start to your day.

3. I do get more things done. Once that bed is made, I don't want to waste the effort by climbing back in. So, I go do other things - like writing a blog post, or cleaning, or walking or hanging out with the Man, Make your bed to feel like you accomplished something.

4. The habit of bed making gave me permission to buy a lovely hand-quilted quilt. Spreading that quilt across my bed every morning makes me feel rich. Hand-quilted quilts can cost hundreds, if not thousands,  of dollars. The fact that I bought mine at a church Christmas Bazaar from the Quilting Group for not-so-much does not matter. Each morning as I toss that quilt out like a fisherman casts his net, I feel like the quilt is catching and keeping the blessings that come from a group of women all stitching at the same frame.  Make your bed beautiful. Find something lovely to spread on your bed and you will want to look at it every day.

5. I sleep better. I do. And on the nights that sleep evades me, the neatness of my bed reminds me that I am fortunate. Make your bed. Make YOUR bed. You HAVE a bed. You are blessed.

Secret Agents of Good - Spy School

 Little Blue Bunny and his compatriot, Franklin, are back at SAOG (Secret Agents of Good) school this week.  With all the white stuff outside, they decided to hone their spy skills.

(What they get up to when they are NOT in SAOG training!)

Today they plan to become...SUPER SMELLERS!!! AND TERRIFIC TOUCHERS

Yes, the Blue Bunnies of Beneficence will use their noses to sniff out (hehehehe) different scents. Why is this important, you ask?

Well, a SUPER SMELLER can warn others of gas leaks, or of possible bad tastes, or of garlic overload.

But also, a SUPER SMELLER can stay safe by avoiding food that smells "off" - usually a sign of spoilage.

Here are some Spy School ideas.

-What's That Smell Game?

1. Gather some small cups or containers.

2. Gather an equal numbers of items with strong smells - like onions, vinegar, flowery perfume, peppermint, vanilla, or coffee. NOTE: stay to food safe items. Some very smelly items should be avoided - like cleaning supplies.

(Smelly things.)

3. Place a little bit of one smelly substance into each cup, one smell to a cup

4. Cover the cups with a thin tissue.  Some things that smell also have identifiable looks.

5. Challenge your spy student to identify the smell in each cup.

(Franklin is taking the plunge. I hope it smells good.)

 

Make it harder.

Place the cups around a room and ask your SAOG trainees to find them, using their sense of smell. 

-AAHHHH! What did I touch?

Sometimes we have to reach into containers to find things like lost toys, or lost crochet hooks, or lost pocket change or lost keys. Actually, I am thinking of sofa cushions right now, which are not containers. I think you know what I mean.

When reaching into dark places, it is helpful to know when to NOT grab something - or to be able to figure out what we DO grab. Just saying. This is where TERRIFIC TOUCH power comes into play.

For this game you need an empty box with a hole big enough to reach through. I suggest a tissue box, because those boxes come with holes.

(Could you guess what this was, if it was in the box?)

1. Place something with a particular shape or texture into the box. NOTE: for safety sake do NOT use sharp, poisonous or dangerous items for this test.

2. Cover the hole with a cloth so the trainee can NOT see inside.

3. The trainee must reach inside.

4. a. The trainee can tell you what they think is in the box.

    b. The trainee can describe how the item feels.  

5. If the trainee is successful in step 4,  it is the trainee's turn to test the tutor, (or trainer or teacher or....).

 

Good guessing, Franklin!

-Grab it!

This game is like a scavenger hunt for the senses. Make a list of words that describe things, like fuzzy, or furry or fluffy or feathery or - moving on to another letter now - smooth, sleek, slippery, slimey, shivery..

or any other describing word. You can add words that use other senses, like "bright" for the sense of sight, or "sweet" for taste or smell, or "loud" for hearing.

Challenge your SAOG trainees to GRAB something that matches your word. If you are keeping score, give extra points to trainees who grab creative choices. Or not. Play it by ear. Or eye, or tongue or nose or fingertips. It's all good.

Extra Points for putting everything away.

The Final Installment of SAOG Spy School will show up here sooner or later.