Not much to clean?

thatworn

Tue, Apr 02 2024, 7:27 pm

Ema of 5 wrote:

I don’t forbid it, but we do have a “no food beyond the dining room” rule. However, guests don’t always listen, little kids don’t always listen, and my 17m for sure doesn’t listen. Yes my main cleaning is the kitchen and dining room, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to clean other places too.

My children rarely listen to me but with food I guess I've been militant and I really never let anyone eat away from the table. Food is taken away if they start to wander around with it. Meal and snack times are always supervised. I guess it could be seen as taking time away from doing laundry, etc, if I have to supervise eating times, but it has made life a lot easier Pesach time. I am not sure what to do about guests not listening. We have had people occasionally give their children food in our basement by simchos we've hosted, but I'm very on top of cleaning it up right away. It might be that I drive myself too crazy for the rest of the year and this is unhealthy? But I do not have cleaning help and just doing the kitchen and dining room is so much work in such a short time that Pesach is always on my mind.
Just wondering, once you've pesach cleaned your bedrooms, etc, how do you make sure toddlers/guests, do not take chommetz in there? This would be my main concern. If someone is not listening to rules concering food for 45 or so weeks of the year, what makes them listen in the weeks leading up til Pesach after you've cleaned?

Last edited by thatworn on Tue, Apr 02 2024, 7:30 pm; edited 1 time in total

thatworn

Tue, Apr 02 2024, 7:28 pm

amother Mustard wrote:

It’s not so much the cleaning, it’s the
COOKING & FOOD !

The always running out of food & making 1000 trips to grocery store
For the mains
The fruits and veg
The diary
The first major grocery order

I find all that very hard & time consuming & I’d love to make it simpler.
How ?

Do you keep a list/lists from year to year, with how much produce and other products you've used? I find it so helpful to whip out a list and ship based on that. Of course, if you're having guests, etc, you have to recalculate.

amother

Stone

Tue, Apr 02 2024, 7:46 pm

I have a special needs kid who doesn't look special needs. She hides food. Sneaks it. She has HFASD and ADHD. We are working on it but I have cleaned out her room 3x already and keep finding snacks.

I am going crazy.

I don't know what to do. We live in a small place so it is harder in many ways. No room to store thing, lock things up. No playroom.
Dining room is playroom is living room....

amother

Dill

Tue, Apr 02 2024, 7:48 pm

I have little kids also but we have a no food outside of the kitchen/dining room area that everyone knows and sticks to. Even the 2 year old knows food doesn’t go anywhere else. It’s for cleanliness reasons but it’s a super helpful rule when it comes pesach time!

OP what you’re doing sounds fine.
I absolutely hate cleaning the fridge and stovetop and putting all of the kitchen things away and covering the counters. But other than that the rest of the house is super easy.

amother

Midnight

Tue, Apr 02 2024, 8:05 pm

There are certain rules I have for our house, but "food only in the kitchen" is just not one of them. I like snacking on the couch. I like giving my kid a rice cake in bed if they're kvetching they're still hungry. I like letting them snack on a bag of chips while they play in the playroom. I'd rather be chill all year round and have a harder job for 3 weeks, than be all strict about it all year long.

amother

Sapphire

Tue, Apr 02 2024, 9:15 pm

Yuppp! I’m with you. People all around me are freaking out and I’m like ummm.. I cleaned my upstairs and there wasn’t anything besides dust. I mean ye my 4 yr old sneaks food up but I clean it up right away. I honestly think people aren’t aware of Halacha. For instance did you kno if there’s a piece of bread under your oven and you know about it you still do not have to move the oven and clean it. I think the high schools/mesivtas need to focus on what’s Halacha and what’s chumra and make a clear differentiation so when it comes to being married we don’t have a bunch of harried moms and dads right before pesach.

amother

SandyBrown

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 12:43 am

amother Stone wrote:

Switch to klp pesach snacks from now on!

amother

Lemonlime

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 1:35 am

We have a no food off the main floor rule but I know my stepdaughter keeps food in her room. She's also over the age of 12 and is responsible for cleaning her own room. If she has chametz there it's on her, not on me.
Everyone else in the house abides by the rule.
I only Pesach clean the main floor. Chametz has never entered my bedroom or any kids bedrooms.
I don't use pesach as an excuse to organize or spring clean. I deep clean every couple of months anyway.

amother

Stone

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 3:13 am

amother SandyBrown wrote:

Switch to klp pesach snacks from now on!

Incredibly picky kid with tantrums over the wrong flavor of something or if we gave wrong vegetable. Because of the HFASD- I can't deal with klp for an extra day, let alone 2 weeks.
Looks neurotypical from outside but causes lots of chaos for us.
Besides not affording KLP snacks for extra few weeks. I don't buy 99% of that stuff for pesach anyways...

amother

Poppy

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 3:46 am

We don't allow food out of the kitchen and dining room, so Pesach cleaning isn't a big deal for us. It's just regular cleaning in most of the house plus intensive kitchen cleaning. We close off all cabinets and put up Pesach shelves, so it's really just deep cleaning the oven and fridge and freezer and chairs. The floor needs to get swept and mopped Pesach or not anyway.

imaima

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 3:56 am

amother OP wrote:

I feel like everyone is stressing and cleaning for Pesach and I don't know what I'm forgetting/missing. I'm not cleaning my upstairs other than regular weekly cleaning - linen, bathrooms, floor, etc. We don't usually eat upstairs. I need to vacuum the couch, wash the shelves in the dining room. Wash tables and chairs and cover. Clean coat closets, coats, backpacks. I have separate toys for Pesach so I'm just locking up my playroom, not cleaning that. I sell most of my kitchen cabinets so only cleaning the ones that have food, like the pantry. Fridge and freezer. I can do all that in a few hours. What am I missing here? (My husband will be cleaning the car.)

I grew up in a house where we cleaned the chandelier and scrubbed the pots with toothpicks. Am I just doing too little because we did too much? Am I doing enough?

You are doing fine.
Other people just also combine it with spring cleaning

Ema of 5

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 7:55 am

thatworn wrote:

It’s not my kids who don’t listen. It’s the guests who bring snacks for their little kids, or get a box from a simcha, or take something up when they go to bed….im not saying there’s a crazy amount of food, I’m just saying I can’t rely on “we don’t take food beyond the dining room” when it comes to Pesach cleaning.
Everything gets cleaned every week (except the playroom) so I’m not really concerned. I do a thorough cleaning right before I turn over my kitchen, and then anything that may end up getting taken out of the dining room is kosher for Pesach, so it’s ok.

amother

Burlywood

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 4:17 pm

Just cleaning kitchen with appliances, dining room, turn over, cover, shlep out pesach wares, feeding everyone 3 meals a day chometz while trying to cook & keep the kitchen chometz free.. it's all alot. Then the endless laundry ( regular + linens & towels + coats & jackets etc) the day before yom tov..