Whenever I think of back doors, I think of one of my earliest childhood memories.
My sister, Katherine, had just been born, so I could only have been 2 1/2 years old. My mother had made a long train trip from Mexico (where she and my dad were missionaries) to Nebraska, with two small children in tow to give birth in her parent's hometown. It was the end of March and a late blizzard had just blown in. We were anxiously awaiting the arrival of my father, when we heard a knock at the back door.
"Who could it be?" my grandma asked with a twinkle in her eye. I was lifted up to see through the glass and into the enclosed back porch, but no one was there.
The knock came again. I was puzzled.
Suddenly, my dad's head popped up from where he was crouching below the glass and I squealed with delight! I can still remember him bursting through the door, smelling like cold, fresh snow, and squeezing me tight. My dad was here!
I cherish that memory.
Our goofy Barn House is situated so that we actually use our back door more than our front door. It's confusing to delivery people and those who have never been to our house. It's even confusing for US, and we have to clarify which door we are talking about. We generally call the actual front door (which is used as the back door) "the Old Front Door," and we call the back door (which is used as the front door) the "Kitchen Door." Then there's the "Way Back Door" in the back room, but that doesn't really help our confusion.
Paying attention to the Front Door area is easy. It's a No Brainer. It's where most guests get their first impression of your home and you can maintain a facade of orderliness for the first few feet into your house.
The Back Door area is another story. It's where the stuff of life happens! It's often where the shoes, backpacks, econo-packages of toilet paper, trash waiting to be taken outside, pet food and yard toys often reside on a semi-permanent basis. If you are lucky enough to have a back porch, the whole area can be the messy underbelly of a busy family's life.
Today's Small Thing is to pretend you are a Back Door Friend, coming to your own house for coffee. Some of you will be hosting "Company Girl Coffee" tomorrow by linking up, and this will really get you in the mood. What is the first thing you notice when you enter from the back?
Perhaps your Back Door area is pretty neat, but your door itself could use a wipe-down. Maybe you need to cart some of the shoes to closets or move some of the excess sweaters to the family members' bedrooms. Could you put away the items from Costco that sit there forever? Maybe sweep up the dirt that's tracked in. Move the junk mail and straighten the rug.
POINTS: 40 for doing a little Back Door clean up. It's going to feel great to walk in and not stumble over the stuff that always collects there!
