CLEAN SHEET NIGHT
There are a few of those extraordinarily ordinary things that I really love, like the laughter of the Girl and Monkey Boy when they are playing or reading and getting along, the softly falling snow in early winter, and freshly laundered and pressed bed linens. Today is the trifecta, and it’s just about perfect.
B went back to work this morning after taking several days off after Christmas, both to rest and refresh. We spent our days in pajamas, huddled together playing games, watching movies, reading books, and doing little else.
Right after B left for the office...
Right after B left for the office and knowing that this house had endured quite enough holidaying, I stripped the beds, gathered all the wash, and ventured to the laundry room to start the mountain that had accumulated during our respite. I started with the bed linens. I’m not always great with laundry. I start it, that’s not the challenge. The challenge occurs somewhere between the first and second load when I get distracted. And when I do the linens, it’s not uncommon for me to remember at bedtime and hope that they all got dried. There have been days when we crawled into bed on slightly damp sheets. Other nights we’ve reduced to using the oddly colored, unmatched sheets that I once thought were perfect for our bedroom. We’ve also had to make a flat sheet work in place of the deep fitted sheet, just for the night that may or may not stretch on a few more days. And, it’s also not uncommon to be awoken by curses when someone’s feet get tangled up in a loosened flat sheet. Call me a snob, but none of the above scenarios feel luxurious or sexy at all.
But today, the first Clean Sheet Night of the New Year, I kept a watchful eye on the drier to make sure I didn’t miss the end of the cycle. As soon as the pillow cases were dried, I removed them from the dryer and marched right to the ironing board.
I don’t usually iron my pillow cases.
The last time I ironed pillow cases was last spring when our Lehigh Valley house was on the market. Our small, charming blue carriage-house on the hill was on the market for just over one month before we accepted an offer. Out of those weeks, there were only three days that the house was not shown. So every day, I made the house and my bedroom show ready, which included freshly laundered and pressed pillow cases. Every. Day.
(I no longer strip and remake my bed every day. It typically happens once a week. But this time it went two weeks. Don't judge me. And just for the record, we have more than one set of sheets for our bed. I just happen to have a favorite: crisp white, silky soft 800 threat count cotton.)
But today, having been dutifully vigilant, I decided to iron the pillow cases. It may seem frivolous, a fool’s errand and inconsequential to most, but there is something absurdly luxurious about crawling into a bed made with freshly laundered and pressed linens. Don’t believe me? Try it. Go right now and pull out your most freshly laundered pillow cases and your ironing board. It costs nothing but a few pennies of electricity and a few minutes of your time. But when your head hits your pillow tonight, take a deep breath and settle in. For tonight, you’ll feel exceptionally pampered.
I love Clean Sheet Night.
When B got home from work, he saw the bed. “Oooh, Clean Sheet Night. I love Clean Sheet Night. And the bed is already made. Can we go to bed right now?”