and time for bikinis, flip flops and cottages with

t's summer and time for bikinis, flip flops and cottages with a view of the ocean. Oh yeah, and it’s time to buy some cool, funky bed sheets for the kids. The reason for this is because chances are that it is very doubtful that your teenage girl will take the time to make her bed unless you make things easy for her. She will not want to be fiddling around with the comforter and accessories that came with the cute bed in a bag set that she just had to have this spring when there are surfboards to ride, ultraviolet rays to catch and cute beach bums to flirt with!

When I was a teen (I’m sure that you will be polite and not inquire as to how long ago that may have been) I knew that my mother would not let me out the door until my room was straight. If I wanted to avoid a lecture on how much money she had spent on my bedding set and decorating the bedroom, the best course of action was to go ahead and tidy up before I opened the door. I needed some tricks to get the job done as quickly as possible so as not to keep my friends waiting in the driveway and then a visiting girlfriend share the tip that she saved her best bed sheets until summer so that her bed looked nice without having to go to the trouble to layer comforters and coverlets.

I thought this was an excellent idea because it’s too hot to sleep under all that cover in my part of the country from April until September. So, after Easter I packed the quilt and most of the pillows in a space bag and pulled out some funky bed sheets (in my case hot pink polka dot bed sheets) that matched my bedroom's color scheme. So long as there were tight, hospital corners and no wrinkles my mom was happy and my friends were happy that they didn’t have to wait for me in a hot car for an hour.