Go With The Flow

Housewives have started talking about Pesach. Everyone has a different method to the madness. Some strategies applied are the Last Minuters (starting with the kitchen and then doing everything else) who usually begin no more than a week or so before the holiday; the more common One-Room-At-A-Timers (who spend a few days per room until it is done before moving on to the next) and usually begin immediately after Purim; and the crazy people who start right after Chanukah and have everything done by Tu B’Shvat in time to start it all over again.

I had forgotten how uplifting the feeling of exhilaration was. It had been such a while since I experienced the sense of accomplishment that accompanied the simple act of crossing a chore of my mental Pesach-cleaning list! It was unexpected. Unanticipated. Unusual. Okay, enough with the un-words…

The honest truth is that I had not exactly planned to do any Pesach cleaning today. Just as yesterday, I had not planned on going on a Flatbush shopping expedition along Coney Island Avenue between J and K. Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow. I had an early morning date booked with my husband in Boro Park, but that was all – I thought I would come home and Pesach clean. Instead, I managed to get a rare ride into Flatbush and seized the Monday morning opportunity to finally take care of some errands that were on my C.I. Avenue to-do list. I found a new shell to wear under the jumper gown I had bought for my brother’s wedding. (The original shell I bought last week did not work out, the fit was just wrong for a gown. It was returned.) I also stocked up on shells for the summer and picked up a new Shabbos robe for Pesach. The best part is that almost everything I found was on sale!

Fast forward to today. The one thing that was booked for this morning was my daughter’s birthday party in playgroup. (It really should have been yesterday when it her actual birth date, but there was that pre-existing booking on my calendar. Besides, she was not going to know the difference if the party was a day later.) I packed the bag of peckelach (nosh bags) and we made it to playgroup just in time for the party at 10 AM. It was so cute to watch the kids singing happy birthday and dancing around in a train. I sat next to the birthday girl and enjoyed the proceedings. Their teacher had taught them the birthday routine well (it also helped that they just had another party yesterday) and it was heartwarming to hear the little ones wish “Asach yiddishe nachas,” at the end of the party when they thanked me for coming.

When it was over, I was surprised to note that it was still early in the morning. I stopped off at the pediatrician for a paper that needed filling out and then weighed my options. There was the possibility of visiting the Purim stores to find some costumes and items for my m’shalach manos. Or, I could just go home and tackle another Pesach job…

You know which one I chose!

(The deciding factor was my plan on being in the vicinity of the Purim stores tomorrow after doing my weekly grocery shopping. It’s always good to group errands together when you go out so you save time and don’t have to go out so often for every little thing. When you don’t have a car at your disposal, you really feel every outing. It also helps you stay in shape, but I digress.)

I had mentioned some of my Pesach to-do list in my last post (and of course a bunch of things popped into my head afterwards that I forgot to list). Well, the one task that most appealed to me today was to tackle the arts ‘n crafts closet. As I emptied it out and washed each shelf, I was surprised at what not-a-big-deal this job was! (In my mind, somehow each job majestically receives extra grandeur that leaves me thinking that something which might take maximally an hour ends up taking all day!) Getting everything organized was much easier than I thought. I put all the rolls of curling ribbon on a higher shelf (too many memories of my kids making a ‘spider’s web’ through the house with them) and kept the colored pencils and crayons on a lower, more child-accessible shelf to promote creativity. (I hope I will not be sorry about this move.) I managed to throw out things (yay!) which is always an achievement for me – the major saver that I am. I even threw out my classmates’ wedding invitations that I had been keeping until now, some for over ten years. Don’t ask me for what. I mean, I have not seen some of those people in years! The box containing the user manual of my first digital camera – goodbye! It feels so great to chuck things you no longer need.

Or maybe you never really needed in the first place…

But like I said, I’m a saver. The ironic thing is that when I actually need the warranty papers or a phone number for customer service, I can never find them! So why am I keeping so many of the instructions that come with products?

Good question.

The cherry on top with today’s fait accompli is that I found a toddler lock to tie the closet doors shut. Hopefully this will help my nice clean closet stay that way for longer!

When I was done with the closet, it was time for lunch. I cooked meatballs for supper and then saved another trip by renewing what was due at the library online. I took a nap and then hurried to pick up my daughter from playgroup in order to get home in time for my son’s van. (Rush, rush, rush…) At least some of my Pesach-cleaning quota was filled for the day, today, so I am very glad about that.

Maybe my dream of staying home for Pesach can become a reality after all.

Busy With Everything – But Pesach

Slacking off. That is the phrase I would use to describe how I relate to my Pesach cleaning project lately.

I knew the family wedding scheduled a month before Pesach would throw me for a curve, and I was right. My hours have been consumed with running around looking for gowns and other wedding-related accessories. It takes time to find things, to decide where to get my sheitel styled and my makeup done for the big day. I ran around to countless gemachs and ultimately ordered a gown for myself online that needs to be taken to a seamstress for alterations. My daughter and nieces will have matching gowns.

Purim is another loop that has snatched me away. I am usually so Purim-prepared, but this year I feel so behind. One year, I had bought the base for my m’shaloch manos already by Succos time. I have also put together some very cute and shticky things in the past. This year, I still have not finalized how I will package everything. I have yet to buy my daughter’s princess costume. (My sons are letting me get away easy this year, they want to be the secret service – suits with earpieces and walky-talkies.)

Then there is the matter of timing. I feel it is too early to clean certain objects that are still being used and will still get chometzdik, i.e. the toys. Just last week, my husband exited the children’s room with a chocolate chip cookie he’d discovered. He held it up triumphantly and teased, “There’s no chometz in the kids' room!” I think my two-year-old is not getting the message about keeping food in the kitchen.

Since my last major cleaning endeavor, I did maybe a closet or two and some light spring cleaning in the bathroom medicine chest. It feels like I’m not getting anywhere! There is still so much that I can be doing now. For starters: The arts ‘n crafts closet, the linen closet, the coat closet, the seforim shank, the office, the couch.

Oh, let me not forget preparing the papers for the taxes.

In health matters, it seems I am constantly rundown with a cold this entire winter. Maybe I get one as soon as the previous one leaves, who knows? I had a stomach bug that kept me out of commission one whole day, so I definitely lost some ground there. I still stay up much too late and wonder why I have no energy the next day, my usual problems…

So these are my struggles. How will I find the time and energy to near the Pesach-cleaning finish line when there is so much else going on?

Shopping List

Oh, what fun it is to waltz through stores on a shopping mission! The knowledge that you have to come home with certain items is a contrasting feeling to the leisurely browsing or window shopping I normally love to do. Shopping for Pesach is a whole new take on exercising one’s purchasing power. As most holiday shopping goes, the closer you get to the deadline, the more frenzied and panicked the shoppers get. Try walking through the KRM supermarket the weeks before Pesach! In the spirit of remaining calm and not overspending on what boils down to pretty much one week’s worth of camping out in one’s own kitchen, I have compiled a list of what I think I’ll need to buy for my first Pesach in my own home.

(Keep in mind that living in a two-bedroom Brooklyn apartment as I do, there isn’t exactly much storage space for hiding away Pesach wares year round. I am trying to get away with buying only what I deem absolutely necessary for this year so that I won’t be stuck with boxes of Pesach goods that I have nowhere to store. Don’t forget, there will always be other years to add more to the collection. Hopefully by then, we’ll be living in a bigger house too.)

Thus said, I am not planning to buy two sets of dishes and silverware – everything but the kitchen sink. I am only planning to buy absolute requirements and use disposable paper goods for everything else. Milchig dishes? Disposable. Cups? Disposable. Mugs for hot drinks? Styrofoam (with apologies to the environment.) Cutlery? Disposable. You get the idea. We already have a set each of a milchig and fleishig sharp knife and potato peeler from a previous Pesach when we brought the items to my parents’ house because my husband did not like their peelers or blunt knives when he helped with the cooking. So, for dairy, all we will need to get is one frying pan and a spatula. That is all.

(We happened to have won a brand new frying pan recently that I put away for Pesach. So we just need a spatula…and paper goods for milchig’s. That’s all.)

For fleishigs, we will definitely need a bit more than that. Pots and pans and silverware. I’m debating over real dishes or paper goods.

When it comes to pareve, there are some things that are necessities like mixing bowls and spoons; a mixer (most likely handheld); a hot water urn; and other things that I’m not sure how necessary they’ll be this year (say, a food processor) but would be useful if they were here.

Then there’s the need for rolls of foil and plastic sheets for covering up the countertops, sink inserts, fridge inserts, (oven inserts?) rolls of paper to line tables and cupboards and contact paper to line drawers. I have no idea how much I’ll need of all this. I do know that the rolls of contact paper I bought last year were not enough for all the cupboards in my kitchen.

Am I forgetting anything? I definitely feel as if I am.

Okay, deep breath.

Somehow everyone reaches the finish line.