My grandparents owned a ranch-style house, and when friends came to visit, they knew not to walk up the front steps and ring the doorbell. The sound of a ringing doorbell meant one thing — you were trying to sell a vacuum cleaner.
My grandparent’s real friends entered through the garage (which was always wide open) and knocked on the back door. I can still hear the rap-rap-rap on the screen door and the sound of it slamming shut. That was a happy sound.
Today, at my own house, guests are welcome to enter through any door they’d like (although I have been caught by more than one door-to-door salesman. People still do that?) But the back door is reserved mostly for my son and the pack of neighborhood kids who burst inside, requesting a reprieve from the summer heat.
Their entrance usually sends a shot of anxiety through my body– not because the children aren’t welcome inside– but because, until this weekend, the garage was filthy. The house sat vacant for two years before we moved in, and there was a thick layer of dirt covering the floor.
Saturday, my husband scrubbed our garage floor. And as I watched him, I kept seeing flashes of my grandfather doing the same thing. My grandparent’s garage was set up like a patio, and they took pride in keeping the floor clean. So clean, you could walk on it with bare feet.
My grandparents never had a lot of money. Even as a child, I was keenly aware of financial lack and the intense emotions that surface from feeling like there was never enough. And yet, their home was immaculate. They took pride in their possessions and spent their free time returning their dwelling to a polished, vacuumed and manicured state.
It’s a busier world now. My husband, kids and I are always doing something or going somewhere. Making time for household chores often feels like, well, a chore. But what hasn’t changed is the satisfaction that comes from respecting the roof over our head and being grateful for it.
And, having friends who love and know us well enough to knock on the back door.
What improves your quality of life?
I’m a lucky duck and won myself a copy of Home -Ec 101: Skills for Everyday Living, written by local blogger and author, Heather Solos. Thanks to my friend, Vera Hannaford, who hosted the contest on her blog. Heather’s book is perfect for Generation Xers like me, who need a refresher course on the basic household skills that come naturally to our parents and grandparents. Click here to visit Heather’s blog, and here to get the book.
It made me laugh to read about your grandparent’s garage being set up like a patio. That must have been the thing to do back then. I remember the same. So true about now having just to many things to do – not the same. I often find myself wanting to live back in those more simple days
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It’s so nice to hear that you have similar memories! It was nice being a child “back then” for sure.
I just love a home where the back door or the garage door is where you go to get in. It just shouts Welcome, we’re all friends here.
I know when I was a kid that there were certain houses where you were always welcome and you always went in the back door with your friends. That is such a great memory and I hope your boys and their friends will remember how nice it was. Now, if there are some home-made chocolate chip cookies and milk, you will have created heaven on earth for kids.
As far as housekeeping and scrubbing, yep, we do a bit of it now and then; but, I will admit that we are both so busy running all the time that the whole house-cleaning deal is very low on our priority list.
So glad all is going so well in your new home.
I throw Capri Suns at them, but it’s probably not the same. I also like how when you enter through the back door, you don’t even have to wait for someone to answer. A knock and a “hello?” is often sufficient.
We even had Capri Suns when I grew up in Germany! They were quite expensive at the time and my mother wouldn’t really let us have a “fast-food-packaged” drink like that, so I used to get them at a friend’s house and needless to say, I loved going there! I have very fond memories of Capri Suns
I love it when I walk in to the yarn shop on Saturdays and my Knitsibs squeal, “Vera!” No matter what happened during the week, it always makes me feel better.
I have Heather’s book on my Nook, and I glance a chapter here and there, and I love her practical advice.. Suzy Homemaker, I’m not, but like any skill, I can take in and learn as much or as little as I want.
What a neat experience… to be a “regular” that people appreciate walking in the door. Thanks again for the book! It’s a great reference and entertaining read as well.
I instantly feel better after things have been “neatened up.” If I’ve discarded a few things in the process, all the better. There’s a definite connection between decluttering your home and decluttering your spirit. Same thing with painting or repairing or maintaining your home. It isn’t only an external thing. You feel it inside when you respect your environment. My husband laughs at how much I love trips to the dump and Goodwill, but I always feel lighter on the way home.
It is a physical feeling! I felt lighter and less stressed walking down the stairs into the garage Saturday afternoon. Often, I don’t realize the blocked energy until I release it.
Family!
Less things and more experiences!
And quiet time
This post really made me think about my grandparents and how I felt each time I visited them. The simple act of stepping through their front door and into their kitchen improved the quality of my life. Things slowed down and I appreciated the little things more. Thank you for bringing up so many wonderful memories for me today! I love finding your posts in my Inbox in the morning
Kim, thank you. And I’ve really been enjoying your blog, too! There is something about the way my grandparent’s house “felt.” I only hope to create that type of experience for my children and grandchildren.
Friendship improves my quality of life. I love MTM, and he is my soul mate, but I couldn’t exist without female friends. Every time I find another one, my life quality goes up a few notches.
I agree. I love my female “gems” who have offered years of friendship, regardless of whether we live near or far, are “busy”, or in different phases of life.
I leave my garage door open in the summer time. Sometimes my kids are there sometimes it is just neighborhood kids, either way, the juice boxes in my refrigerator are gone and I don’t mind it one bit.
That is awesome. Kids need to feel welcome and to feel like kids. Nothing says “childhood is awesome” like free juice boxes.
That’s so funny — whenever I hear the doorbell ring I get so annoyed. No friend of mine would risk waking up the baby or setting off the dog’s barking! It usually IS a salesman.
The other day I nearly scared one of the neighborhood kids half to death when I saw him walking up the steps to ring the doorbell while Blake was asleep. I almost broke my ankle dashing to the door before he did it.
I remember those days of sitting in the garage on folding chairs, having a radio in there, and generally using it for a hang-out. In those little ranch style houses of the 60′s, it became like an extra room sometimes.
As far as cleaning house, well, yes I love the feeling I get from a nice clean house. When I was a SAHM, I had a regular cleaning schedule (don’t panic, this was back in the 80′s when there weren’t so many other things to do with kids!) I can’t even believe that I used to do all the floors twice a week, wash the windows and drapes every season and do laundry practically every day. Sheesh. Where did THAT woman go? She sure doesn’t live here anymore!!
I’m lucky if it gets done once a month. Sigh.
It was like an extra room. After my grandparents died, I drove by the house. The new owners kept the garage door closed and the house seemed so sad like that.
I’m TRYING to get on a cleaning schedule (per the tips in Heather’s book), but I’m still hooked on my pre-kids habit of doing it all in one day. It feels so massive.
“having friends who love and know us well enough to knock on the back door …” Isn’t that what it’s all about? I only spent a small part of my childhood living in a house (incidentally my grandparents’) and have fond memories of roaming the neighborhood with my friends, being in and out of their family’s homes. I think more than anything that’s the kind of life I wish for us to have again, where we live close enough to good friends who always feel welcome in our home and vice versa. By the way, I love the image you portrait about your grandparents and their clean and cozy home
When it comes to house chores I am with Bella, it’s not only an external thing and can be very therapeutic.
We had an impromptu cookout with neighbors last night (leftover from Blake’s birthday party Friday) and I realized that sense of community has been missing for me. We had not had that in years. We can’t really force it, but only pray that it comes back around.
I cast my vote with Bella and Kerstin. It feels good when the house is in order, neat and tidy. Yes, it feels like it parallels life itself. If the house is a mess, well, such is life at that time. Home is important to me, a priority, and so I like it to be comfortable that way.
I think it was you (or maybe Kersten?) who commented in a previous post that they felt like, as a creative person, they shouldn’t feel drawn to order and routine. Yet, we learn that it actually feeds our souls and our creativity. I think that’s so interesting.
Love this post, Angie! Growing up, we also had friends enter through the garage door. The front door was always locked, and if the doorbell rang, we knew it was a stranger. Funny, because we always keep our garage closed. Too many bikes, beach umbrellas, and “stuff” from our old house that we keep saying we’re going to sell on Craigslist. I noticed in my husband’s family that friends and guests enter their house with a quick knock and let themselves in. It always struck me as odd, but I appreciate it now. xo!
I love the “quick knock!” Also, we are lucky because our garage opens on the side of the house, so you can’t see our junk from the street! Unlike my grandparents, we close it at night and when we aren’t playing, but it feels so homey to have that alternate entrance.