Shelf paper of life

As I shelf papered my son's new kitchen yesterday, I had lots of time to think, why is it that mothers (and by extension, our daughters) are so adamant about shelf paper and guys don't care about it at all? And while I'm on the subject, why can't they make the stupid stuff so it's the same size as kitchen cupboards? Shelves are all standard sizes I'm sure, and I hate ending up with all these skinny pieces that are useless.

Anyway, I actually get an anxious feeling in my stomach if I think about their cupboards without shelf paper. What is that about? Last year, my youngest son, Zack, had a college roommate who was moving in before him. I took my shelf paper with me, telling Zack that even if the roommate had filled the cupboards it would make me feel better to do the paper. When we got there, I smiled to myself to see that the roommates' mother had already put shelf paper in the cupboards.

When my oldest son, Christopher was in college, he was moving into an apartment, where he and a roommate arrived at the same time. As we unpacked their supplies, the other mother and I both pulled shelf paper our of our bags at the same time, and we laughed. So we split the kitchen and each papered a few shelves.

When I moved into my new house, my mother and sister spent the afternoon shelf papering all my new cupboards. What is it with us women that makes shelf paper seem to smooth out the rough edges of moving in (or moving out)? Why do we obsess over this? Is it a therapeutic way of coming to terms with the baby leaving the nest? Do we just have OCD over the thought of touching a shelf that has touched another person's stuff? And why does it come in such ugly colors???!!!