I have no doubt my wife knew whose teaching job it was all along, but for a while there I was like, "At some point the kid's gotta learn to make her own bed. Don't her paren--oh, right."
But then we got her a down comforter, which is actually the exact opposite of learning to make your own bed. Comforters are velcro shoes to hospital corners' laces.
We also do the comforter/duvet thing. Fitted sheet, comforter. No other bits.
Starting about age 10, I went to a summer camp where everyone was expected to make their beds with hospital corners (two flat sheets and a blanket) for cabin inspection every day. I don't remember it as being that hard, but the learning process was probably accelerated by getting peer group pressure, rather than parental threats.
no no, no threats, just a belated awakening to the responsibility to teach once-important life skills. Or to embrace the Comforter Lifestyle and thus punt on them completely.
We do the duvet/no top sheet in our house a la a good part of Europe. We don't have a duvet cover on the "guest comforter", though so one of our Icelandic guests was really confused with the whole sheet thing.
We switch from a DEEP pile duvet/cover to a thin blanket and sheet set in our winter-to-summer transition for our little devil.
His bed is lofted, though. So making a proper bed is a bit difficult even for me as an adult. I don't expect a 5yr old to navigate the ladder/lift mattress/tuck etc (unless I plan on accelerating his career as a window-washer/high wire circus acrobat)
I've been thinking of creating and marketing the Tube Sheet; now I have a whole new market.