The ritual of Best Sleep Saturday

In this Friday 5 I mentioned that I am zealous about sleep. I’m a good sleeper. Even in these years punctuated by hot flashes and occasional wakefulness, I’m very good at getting myself back to sleep.

But getting her took work. I had to be militant about creating an environment where sleep is prioritized.

The most important rule (and basically my only rule) of the house: There is no TV in the bedroom. I think there is an over-reliance on white noise to help people — adults and children — fall aleep and the sooner we disentangle from that, the better. Falling asleep to the TV while on the sofa? Fine. But bed is for sleeping.

The rest is housekeeping. I try my very best to keep the bedroom fresh and clutter free. Every morning when I get out of bed, I pull the top sheet and blankets down to the bottom of the bed and let the fitted sheet and mattress air out for a few hours. If it’s nice out, I open the windows to air out the entire bedroom. I try to remake the bed around lunchtime, but sometimes it doesn’t happen until dinner.

I was never a believer in making the bed every day until a few years ago and now I am obsessed. Making the bed every day has also made me faster at making the bed.

Sheets: f I had a household staff, the sheets would be washed and changed daily. But alas, I don’t. I have two set of sheets for our bed and one is mildly superior to the other (higher thread count, I think). On Saturdays I strip the bed, wash the sheets and remake the bed with the other set. With a fresh set of sheets plus freshly laundered set of pajamas make Saturday nights Best Sleep Saturday!

Other variations include:

• Best Sleep Saturday Prime: The bed is made with the better set of sheets.
• Best Sleep Saturday Prime Double Plus Good: The blankets are washed too, and the better set of sheets are on the bed. This occurs once a month.
• Best Sleep Saturday Prime Double Plus Good Ultra: I wash the mattress pad along with the blankets and make the bed with the better set of sheets. This occurs seasonally.

There’s nothing quite like climbing into a bed that smells like sunshine and detergent, knowing I’ve hit ultra level sleep luxury. I wish it could promise world peace, but I can promise better dreams.