I am seriously not a role model.
Last week, with my brother’s wedding, I did not dream of doing anything Pesach related. The closest I came was buying some Pesach specials at the supermarket. They are now stored in sealed boxes in my apartment.
This week was only slightly better. I will get to my little accomplishments later.
So how was the wedding? Thankfully, it was beautiful. Most everything went off without a hitch, although we did not arrive in time for the photographer to take our family pictures before thekabbalos panim. (Fortunately, he took some later.) Some deadlines are okay to miss. Other deadlines, like Pesach, are non-negotiable.
We stayed overnight at the Hampton Inn in Nanuet. (Who wants to drive home to Brooklyn at 2 AM?) My kids and husband enjoyed the pool the next morning, which we had entirely to ourselves – a major treat. (I sat on the sidelines and fleetingly wished I owned a bathing suit.) After checkout, we picked up lunch and then hung out at my sister’s place. The kids had a ball running around her large backyard. We stayed for sheva brachos and arrived back home very late at night.
The kids missed their bus the next morning and although my husband drove them to school, I felt like my day was pretty much shot. By the time I returned from dropping off my daughter, the morning was half over. I was faced with mountains and mountains of laundry to attend to. (That’s what happens after a wedding when a mother does not wash any loads for two entire days.)
I was grateful to skip sheva brachos Thursday night. My husband had to work late and I was on my own with all the childcare. I gave supper and bathed the kids. My husband walked in just as the younger two were getting into their beds. It was past their bedtime and no one was asleep. Naturally, I was pooped. I would have gladly exchanged places with them! The little kids complained that they were hungry but, mean mother that I am; I refused to allow them to come out for snacks when it was so late. (They need to learn to eat their suppers!) I went to take care of some work on the computer. My husband came and said, “The kids are having a chometz party in their room.” Someone had pilfered a box of crackers from the kitchen cabinet and they were having a field day with it.
Just lovely.
So much for a Pesach-cleaned room…
The truth is, I anyway had to re-vacuum and change the linen in the room before Pesach. So I wasn’t very bothered about the mess. I was more bothered by the fact that the kids still don’t get the concept of not bringing chometz into their room!
We found places for my boys to stay over Shabbos and travelled back over the George Washington Bridge with only my daughter for the Shabbos sheva brachos. Friday was for packing and picking up some Pesach cases for my mother (and myself). We were back late Motzai Shabbos after picking up the boys who had a really good time at their respective sleepovers. It was a nice vacation not to have to cook and clean up dishes…
On the Palisades Parkway, during the ride home, I tried figuring out my Pesach cleaning game plan. I wanted to start on the kitchen, to empty out all the drawers and cupboards and forget – I mean worry – about everything else later. (Though forgetting would be more enjoyable.)
I was not at all ready to start with the kitchen.
My husband suggested I get a cleaning lady. I declined.
Sunday found me with more loads of laundry to tackle. I decided to clean out the broom/cleaning supplies closet. Yay, another closet done! I also cleaned a lot of my kitchen, but it was more of an everyday cleaning instead of a Pesach cleaning. Of course you have to start somewhere. I still had junk from mishlaoch manos on the counters…
There was no way I could go to Sunday night’s sheva brachos. I had no possibility of getting there with my husband working late again and you know what, I was glad for the reprieve. I figured that we were done with all the travelling to Monsey for sheva brachos. Not exactly…
You would think that my plan for Monday would be to tackle some major Pesach-cleaning project. No. It was something much worse than that. I had to take care of paperwork. There is a tiny room in my apartment that is used as an office. I was busy at work with file folders and spreadsheets doing my least favorite task – figuring out numbers for the accountant for tax season. I also took the opportunity to file away a mountain of papers. I did what I could, but I’m still not entirely finished with all the paperwork.
I found out that Monday evening’s sheva brachos was not in Monsey. It was in a restaurant in Teaneck! I have never been to Teaneck. I wanted to go check it out. Teaneck is a lot closer to Brooklyn than Monsey. We managed to get a babysitter and off we went. It was almost like going on a date since it was just the two of us in the car!
Today was my first actual day back to regular life. I asked my husband where he thought I should begin. He preferred the little office room. I did, if I may say so myself, a really good job. I enjoyed the cleaning even if I did have some harrowing experiences. (That’s usually the case when you turn up a dead bug.) I had a scare trying to clean the windows. (I never knew they were broken. No wonder we never opened them!) The top window shot down with a slam, I almost had my hand stuck in it. Oh, the joys of Pesach cleaning…
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