ABC Thursdays: volumes T & X

It's the home stretch, folks! I have 3 entries left, a title page and a wrap up and this baby will be done! I am doing lots of creative cheating with these last entries. For example: Mad Men is under "x". But right now it's more about getting what I want in there and filling up letters than having a clean alphabetic fit. And so with that, here are T and X:

Through This Door
My friend Marti started a blog called Through This Door a few years ago, and what was once her private blog has become a small community. We treat it like a communal journal, recording secrets and confessions and fears and celebrations. It’s been a critical tool for me over the last few years as I’ve struggled with understanding the path that’s unfolded with my kids. The title of the blog is based on this poem:

Prospective Immigrants, Please Note
A poem by Adrienne Rich

Either you will
go through this door
or you will not go through.

If you go through
there is always the risk
of remembering your name.

Things look at you doubly
and you must look back
and let them happen.

If you do not go through
it is possible
to live worthily

to maintain your attitudes
to hold your position
to die bravely

but much will blind you,
much will evade you,
at what cost who knows?

The door itself
makes no promises.
It is only a door.

eXcessive Homemaking
I spend a lot of time homemaking. So much of my day is tending to little tasks that, if I let slip, will easily turn into large projects. Right now my major homemaking tasks are: the laundry, picking up toys, washing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom and preparing food. And most days I tend to each of those tasks every few hours. It’s the kind of work that I have to do over and over and over again. I definitely have my days when I’m in a rut and I just don’t want to do it. But usually I end up doing the tasks without even thinking about it. It often feels like a dance: a dance that can feel light and easy and a dance that can feel dizzying and endless. Some days I regret all the work. I wonder if I would be a better mother if I could let go of some of the homemaking. So many times when faced with playing trains with Isaac and wiping down the bathroom (again), I tend to the bathroom while Isaac plays alone. I know mothers that easily let the bathroom go and choose to spend that time with their kids, and sometimes I can do it, but not usually. Sadly, I don’t think that this area of my life is one that I’ll be able to achieve some kind of balance. I’m just too tightly wound. But, the upside is that our home is usually clean.

eXcellent TV: Mad Men
Mad Men makes me so uncomfortable. I get so mad at the characters. We have to fast forward through hard scenes and then after the show talk through how I am actually NOT Betty Draper. But I absolutely love it. The story is just incredible. The set and characters are so well crafted. It’s just dang good TV.