Hospital Corners

I was making hospital corners on the “Be My Guest” Beauty and the Beast sheets in the room with many names. I use it as my writing room. It is also a guest room. But really, it’s my daughter’s room. She went off to college in fall. She immediately mastered the college experience, full course load for a double major, marching band, symphonic winds, fraternity. But she also got a full time job and started collecting new friends. Add that to the six hour drive…she hasn’t made it home much since September.

But this time the hospital corners were for her.  I was a bit maudlin over the fact that the “Be My Guest” sheets now suited her just as well as they suit Uncle Tom or cousin Rose. But I thought about my daughter and the life she’s made for herself and the person that she is and I realized that now is really the time for me to accept that the shift in the family dynamics is permanent.  She’s so capable. She’s so vibrant. She’s so beautiful.

My daughter has always been an inspiration to me. She’s been focused on her goal since the eighth grade. I wish I could siphon her innate sense of self to share with other pre-teens and teens. Most of all, I admire her bravery. I have no doubt she’d be sorted into Gryffindor. Again and again she has stepped far outside the safe zone to address the difficult issues. She’s even reached out to a complete stranger and offered big, huge help. Is it any surprise she loves Ellen Hopkin’s books?

My beloved daughter isn’t perfect. I know it and on most days she knows it too. When she was in elementary school I used to warn her teachers that they shouldn’t expect to see her do something until she could master it. She used to hold back and watch and study and only then, when she got it, would she do it in front of others. Well, let me tell you, she gets it. Not only does she get it, but she’s blazing trails with it. 

I know people say that the kids turn out well because of the parents. Maybe my making her do her own laundry since she was 10 has something to do with the person she is today, but I kind of just think, my husband and I got really, really lucky. We joke that we raised her and she raises the rest, so expect to see similar posts in the future.

But this post is about hospital corners. Crisp, tight and disciplined corners made on a top sheet. And how they indicate that my husband and I have done our job well, and our daughter has done hers even better.

My little girl. Growing up to be a better person than me. If that isn’t your goal as a parent, then you’d better rethink your plan.