Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Depends On Whom You Ask


The Mom:    "We need to leave in about 5 minutes. Is your bed made?"

15 yr old Angsty Son:    "Yup."

The Mom:    "Pleeeeeeeeese, oh, please, don't say "yup." You sound like a baby coyote. Say, "Yes, Mom."

15 yr old Angsty Son:     "Yup. I'm kidding! Yes, Mom."

The Mom:      "So. The bed is made. Your bed is made."

15 yr old Angsty Son:     "Yup."

The Mom:      ".........audible extended puffy sigh............"

The Mom:     "So. If I go upstairs now, to your room, and look at your bed, it'll be made. Is that right?"

15 yr old Angsty son:      "Yup."

The Mom:     "................second audible extended puffy sigh.........."

The Mom:      "Okay, then, let's go take a  look."

15 yr old Angsty Son:     "I told you. It's made."

The Mom:    "Then this'll be good, right? Let's go look at your made bed together."

15 yr old Angsty Son:    "It's made. I know what a made bed  looks like. I don't have to go see what a made bed looks like. Maybe you need to go see what a made bed looks like...I don't. Especially when I'm the one who made it."

Baby E:     "Ooooohhhhooooo!....owned!" 

15 yr old Angsty Son:    "High 5, baby bro..."

The Mom:     "No. Don't encourage that, Baby E. You go finish breakfast, I'm talking to Alec."

The Mom:      "Alright then, Bedmaker Man.  I'll go up and look, and if it's not made, you will make it before school, got it?"

15 yr old Angsty Son:     "You said to make the bed,  You asked if I made the bed. I made it." 

The Mom:    "I'm going up now. To look at your made bed. And if it's not made..."

15 yr old Angsty Son:    "It.is.made.Mom."

The Mom:    "Going up now. Up the stairs. Last chance. I'm on my way. I hope you're not late because you have to make your..............  ALEXANDER!!!!!!!!!!!!"


Perfectly Made Bed


15 yr old Angsty Son:     "You asked if it was made, you didn't ask if it was Perfectly Made."

76 comments:

  1. Looks pretty good to me! Haha.

    I NEVER make my bed. Even after washing the sheets, I sort of just throw them on.

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  2. Looks good to me. We guys don't have woman brains. Made up is made up. You want one without wrinkles, adopt a Marine.

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  3. LOL... looks like my perfectly made bed

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  4. A step up from my bed making skills that's for sure. I think at some point, when they get that age, we need a teenager/adult translator available.

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  5. Oh, the joy of raising boys. Love, love, the continued use of "Yup" with the sighing. Very funny!

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  6. When I make up my son's bed he goes in and actually un-makes it. He LIKES turning his bed into something that resembles the inside of a fox's den - a swirled mess of blankets and stuffed animals with a curled-up kid sized hole in the middle for him to climb into. sigh. Hoping he outgrows it. By the time he goes off to college. Or, if not, maybe he'll someday find a female fox to share his den with.

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  7. Ok I'll have to give him credit for trying {or half trying}? That of course is not a made bed in my book but then again I am OCD when it comes to that kind of stuff. I know I'll be dealing with this as my boys get older too....joy of boys!

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  8. WHAT is it with boys?! Mine CRY over the thought of having to use the top sheet! I do not get that. At least he still had the sheets on the bed. My middle son always has the bed stripped, even the mattress protector off. I don't even what to know what that's all about.

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  9. It is amazing what my children think is clean, made, dusted, washed, etc...compared to my ideas of this same thing. But I do have to say, at least he tried. I guarantee you if I walked upstairs right now, 3 beds would be unmade and that would be the least of my problems.

    Totally off subject: I was at the soccer field last night and a friend of ours was showing my hubs and I a funny youtube video on his phone. I whipped out my phone and pulled up Suburban Housewife rap. Nothing beats that video, I'm sorry.

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  10. I loved this - I go through the same thing every single day! I've learned to follow up "Is your bed made?" (Or "is your room clean, the bathroom clean, etc.") with, "And will it pass my inspection?" That usually gets HIM to giv the deep, exasperated sigh.

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  11. Lol. Too funny what his idea of made is. My kids think if the blankets are on the bed period, it's made. *sigh* one of those things.

    So many times I've heard, "We just sleep in it and mess it up again, so why does it matter."

    That's when I pull out the, "because I said so" card. (We're mean, mean Mom's. Aren't we?!)

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  12. Looks better than anything my kids manage.

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  13. Hey I have to give him credit. The pillows are on the bed and the blanketsare not on the floor on one side lol

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  14. LOVE it, Alexandra! You capture your boys' voices so well. I love these posts...

    And I have to say, that bed doesn't look too bad (compared to ours)! And you may not want to quote this to your boys, but I recently read aboout a study that said that bed bugs tend to NOT like MESSY beds, so will avoid beds that are not made. I forgot the scientific reason but I swear I read that this summer...

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  15. Haha! You know what is scary? I have those same conversations with my 7 and 5 year old. You're not giving me a lot of hope :)

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  16. A for Effort kid. Looks about as good as mine does.

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  17. Is this what I get to look forward to? That's what Z's bed looks like NOW. Either we get thirteen angsty years of improvement, or I'm doomed. Doomed!

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  18. Well, for A's sake, a thrown pillow or comforter is a LOT safer than a roller skate--not that that *ever* happened to me as a teenager.

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  19. He's a cheeky little devil! He'll keep you on your toes!

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  20. Oh my god...

    ....

    I have this conversation NINETEEN TIMES A DAY.

    I need a valium now.

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  21. Well.......you didn't say perfectly made. He does have a point:)

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  22. I hope my daughter does that well at 15!

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  23. Details, details. He sounds like a smart one, that 15 yr old Angsty Son.

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  24. It's actually much neater than the way my husband makes the bed :P

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  25. I have to say...I still don't make my bed. I really am one of those kids who grew and still didn't see the point of making a bed all the way every day. Yes, I make sure the blankets and pillows are on the bed, and that is "made" indeed.

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  26. I'm impressed he even did that! I get giddy when I see him put his dirty clothes in the hamper without being asked!

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  27. What a typical boy! I'm sure by most men's standards that would qualify.

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  28. Personally? I think that he did a great job.
    And really, why do we need to make the bed? Who's looking?

    sigh, I s'pose I should go make the bed....

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  29. OMG. That's how The TO makes our bed Every. Single. Day.

    (I would do it myself but he's still in it when I leave for work.)

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  30. I consider straightening out the comforter to be 'making the bed'

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  31. LMAO! You get farther than I do with that. I can't get my kids to pick the towels up off the floor. Or put their clothes in the hamper. Or put the cap on the toothpaste. Sometimes they WILL flush the toilet though, so I must be doing something right.

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  32. Empress, THANK YOU for pointing out that my sons aren't the only ones!

    My sons & I have the same conversations about brushing their teeth, completing their homework, putting away their laundry, the list goes on and on...

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  33. Oh Lordy, I have been there so many, many times. My 10 year old will look me in the eye and swear to me that she has made her bed/brushed her teeth or cleaned her room and I will go and check and it is not done.

    You would think they would learn.

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  34. My grandmother despises the word "yup" and my cousins would say it intentionally during their phase of not wanting to actually answer questions with a multi-word response. They lived on the east coast so it was much easier to get away with it over the phone. I learned never to do it in person even if her response was hilarious and we now are able to joke about it :)

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  35. 15-yr old Angsty Son is such a mystery! I love a peek into his disheveled life. The posts on him are few and far between, (that Baby E - hogging all the son-post time!) but they're golden! Good job, Maternal Anthropologist!

    ps - I still can't believe you're old enough to have a 15 yr old child. No. way.

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  36. So, I'm a perpetually bad bed maker. But even I know that if mom asks if it's made, this is not what she means.

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  37. That would totally pass muster in my house.

    Without hesitation.

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  38. This is sweet and cute and sad.

    Sad because I see Alec's room, and we miss you guys.

    We love you.

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  39. I have to use that same exact tactic. "so if I go look right now...." Usually, with the same result, too.

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  40. It's just like if you were to ask my husband to make the bed...

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  41. It has that recently slept in look. Takes skill.

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  42. Looks made to me. Must be a man thing.

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  43. Well, at least none of the sheet is showing. ^..^

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  44. it looks a hell of a lot better than what my bed's looked like for the past month (or two). and i'm pretty sure my sheets haven't been washed in...

    ...you know what; i'll just keep that to myself.

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  45. What is the point of making a bed? You're only going to get back in it and mess it up again. I'm on Team Alexander. ;)

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  46. Two things I learned early on:

    1. Pick your battles.
    2. How to close the bedroom door on battles you don't pick.

    That said? The bed looks good to me!

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  47. Heh. I am already seeing this happening in my house. My oldest will argue his way out of everything. Or attempt to.

    The other day, he spent five minutes in an involved discourse explaining how he doesn't really need to wipe his bum.

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  48. I love it- he does a better job than I do. Not big on making a bed I am just going to get into.

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  49. Whoa. Your son and I have so much in common.

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  50. Wait. Making beds? Is that still done in 2010? I haven't made a bed for anything other than an occasional display purpose (somewhere to throw coats during a party) in... 20 years?

    Sorry. I'm not much of a help here.

    I love the conversation, though. That is the one I have with my son about brushing his teeth properly.

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  51. Funny, my husband who is 32 makes the bed the exact same way. Hmmmm...

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  52. Ok...I love this story. I've lived this story. Thanks for following my blog. You are a kindred spirit. LOVE IT!!!

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  53. That cracks me up!! It looks better than my bed does right now. I need to get off of the computer and clean my house!!!!!

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  54. Uh huh. It's like when I tell Tater to pick up his toys and he just kind of moves them around. I'm sure excellant bed making will be next.

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  55. Why am I always late for your parties? As for the bed? It must be the age. Warning: Tornado hit! should be the sign on my 15 year olds door. At least the blankets weren't hanging from the curtain rods...
    Dana

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  56. Pssst... I stopped making my bed (pretty much) when I got married. The only time it's done is when I've just changed the sheets (or my mom is coming).

    SO he's 50% better than me!

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  57. At first I thought you were posting the dialogue in my house. It was freaking me out. How did you hear our conversation? What? Did I accidentally 'butt' dial you and not know? Did you hear us? How? When? This morning, or yesterday, or the day before, it could have been any morning.

    Then I saw it said Angsty 15 year old son and mine is an Angsty 14 year old daughter. Whew!

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  58. I momentarily thought you had been hanging around at my house...but then realized that MY angsty boy is already 16, so it couldn't be. But his bed, when made, looks eerily the same as yours. So I take comfort in knowing that even The Empress decrees that beds be made. Just not exactly HOW they be made.

    And now I feel normal again.

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  59. LOL!!! My hubby and I laughed hysterically (I read it to him. I couldn't help it, I had to.)
    Oh my gosh, is this what we have to look forward to? Just reading this gave us a little glimpse into our future with our sons - 10 years from now. Our oldest boy is 5 years old and he has his baby bro who is 7 months old - with a 3 year old in between. Oh my!

    Great post, dear Empress. Hopefully it will forever be frozen in virtual land because I know I will need to look back on it years from now for a good chuckle when I am asking my 15 year old son (for the fifth time!) if he's made his bed.

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  60. Yeah, that sounds and looks about right. :)

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  61. Haaaaaa!! That was killer. The buildup was awesome. But, unfortunately, I am about as good at making beds as your son. Mine looks like that just about every day. Heheheehe.

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  62. Classic case of semantics. Your son is on his way to being a great lawyer.

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  63. That's a 15-year-old's room? Where are the piles of clothes? The school books, empty soda cans...

    Did you warn him before taking this photo?

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  64. The soon-to-be-nine year old here makes his bed perfectly the same as your son. I've stopped caring and have decided that I'm not gonna make mine anymore either. I mean why bother when every other room in this house looks likes it's being lived in by a herd of goats?

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  65. Thank you for giving me a glimpse to what the future holds with a teenage son around ;) I'm laughing so hard. He got a point tho' perfectly made and just made hahaha.

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  66. I love this. I am in a daily struggle between my son (12 in Nov. and myself over what is worth the effort and what is not. It is hard for me to let go sometimes or to know when my persistence should win over his. Thanks for the chuckle!

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  67. seriously? is this my future?? oh, boys........

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  68. OMG, do you watch The Middle? This is totally a conversation that would go on in that show with the teenage son, Axl.

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  69. HAHA, that's hysterical. What's scary is this already happens with my almost-5-year old. Sigh.

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  70. LMAO!! What?? No good?? ;) I'm going to be a horrible example for my kids. I never make the bed unless I'm expecting company or I've just changed the sheets. I need to work on that!

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