I have not done one thing for Pesach yet

amother

Firebrick

Fri, Apr 05 2019, 4:57 pm

amother wrote:

Not really, my oldest is 8 and he is a difficult child.

Sorry to hear that. Wondering, though: Vacuuming, for some reason, is a really kid-friendly activity. There's something deeply satisfying about it. Can you give him a vacuum with that hose attachment operational, and ask him to do a room (under the couch, in the cushions, etc), and he gets to earn a prize when he's done?

happymom123

Fri, Apr 05 2019, 5:20 pm

yksraya wrote:

A few wks ago in the parsha, hashem told Moshe rebeinu to make the mishkan, so Moshe asked hashem "is it even possible for a human being to do that?" so hashem told him "you just start using your hands and pretend your making it" and then hashem made the mishkan.

I also feel weaker than other yrs. So I basically told hashem "I'm gonna start doing, I'll use my hands, and you help me". Bh I'm getting there. Slower than other yrs, I do cut corners too, but bh getting there.

That's beautiful, thank you for sharing

livinginflatbus

Sat, Apr 06 2019, 8:58 pm

My pet peeve is that eveyone makes pesach into such an anxiety ridden affair . No one asked you to spring clean every single drawer ; that’s not what chametz is . I honestly don’t get the hysteria. I’m not minimizing it , it’s hard work but I think a lot of the pressure is self made . Good luck op and don’t worry !

dankbar

Sat, Apr 06 2019, 9:06 pm

I used to go crazy with pesach cleaning until I read a sefer from a chassidishe dayan.
Most things we clean & wash are totally not necessary according to halacha.
He wrote that there is no need to unscrew pots, take apart appliances, move furniture or stoves, no need for qtips, toothbrushes, toothpicks or screw drivers, only till where hands can reach.
Also crumbs are not substantial enough to be deemed chometz. It has to be at least a kzayis. Anything on wheels of carriages/ bikes/trucks is nullified as it is trampled & not rayi for dog.
No scrubbing floors, or try to get stuff out between grout & floor boards. It doesn't even need to be washed because anything on floor is trampled not edible for dog.
Anything that washed with soap is not edible anymore even if didn't completely come off.
Anything outdoors like porches/yards/ outside of window or window gate not considered chometz because you can assume birds ate it up.
Walls not necessary to wash only if chometz is stuck to walls like toddler by eating area that smears walls with food maybe.

groisamomma

Sat, Apr 06 2019, 9:12 pm

dankbar wrote:

I'm not sure about the k'zayis part but I agree with everything you wrote...which is why I haven't started anything yet. I won't enjoy Pesach if the whole build-up is stressful.

I'm amazed at DD's self-restraint. In past years, all I heard was that *everyone* finished x amount of rooms and we haven't even started. She hasn't said a peep this year so I'm in no rush to start. Realistically, we can do the necessities in under a week so I see no reason to start before then.

dankbar

Sat, Apr 06 2019, 9:14 pm

My mom says when she grew up in a shtetl. Rosh chodesh Nissan you plastered walls & put up borscht.
The whole wall washing comes from olden times when they used to throw dough to make bread it couldve landed in the holes of the walls. So if they had balls of dough in wall, instead of cleaning it out, solution was to cover those holes with some plaster.
Then they changed the wooden boards that were on the earth floor to new ones.
On bedikas chometz they shook out the wool rugs & wool blankets outside.
And it was pesach.
The reason we go crazy with washing pots & dishes today because once they used to have to clean it very well from chometz because they used same ones for pesach, after kashering. Today most people have separate keilim for pesach. So we can just lock up & sell our chometz ware.

dankbar

Sat, Apr 06 2019, 9:20 pm

We were drilled while growing up that not even a crumb be found but it doesn't even qualify as chometz. It only chometz if you will be tempted to eat it on pesach. Even if there are crumbs in your drawers will you lick your drawers clean on pesach from the crumbs you find there?

groisamomma

Sat, Apr 06 2019, 9:35 pm

Why did people throw dough on walls? Yuck.

Dankbar, we were conditioned the same way and I used to think it was Toras Moshe MiSinai. About 10 years ago, dh cleaned for Pesach 2 days during bein hazmanim while I was at work. Pesach came anyway, without organizing clothes, drawers, and closets. He vacuumed the house, did the bare kitchen necessities, and locked up the rest of the cabinets. He kashered the next day, and voila! we were ready for Pesach. Since then I'm much more laid back and enjoy Y"T more.

allthingsblue

Sat, Apr 06 2019, 9:56 pm

groisamomma wrote:

To qualify as chometz that's forbidden to own on pesach, it has to be at least a kezayis or edible.
Items that are less than a kezayis and are inedible (touched with windex/detergent, or touched by a vacume cleaner) are not considered chometz.

FranticFrummie

Sat, Apr 06 2019, 9:56 pm

I have two dogs of my own, and one I'm boarding for a friend. If they haven't already eaten everything they can reach that is chametz, does that mean that 99% of my cleaning is done?

I'm thinking of renting out the dogs this year, so we can all check for chametz in a halachically approved way. Wink

amother

Brown

Sun, Apr 07 2019, 11:04 am

1.) write a realistic plan
2.) reward yourslef for every little bit you have done
3.) do only the absolute minimum necessary
4.) ask your cleaninglady if she could come for more hours
5.) use disposables as much as possible
6.) serve nonchomez as much as possible
7.) ask beis yaakov girls if they could come and help
8.) sell what u dont need (toys etc.) for the week

SELFCARE !!!!

refuah shleyma