Pesach Prep Tips from a Non-Balabusta

(From a reader)

I’ve been hearing a lot of busy, stressed-out mothers say how overwhelmed they feel with Pesach preparation, and I wanted to offer a few tips to make things easier:

1. Don’t compare yourself to others. Some people can afford cleaning help; some people can’t. Some people have helpful families; some people don’t. Some people are in good health; some people aren’t. Some people have crazy stressful jobs; some people don’t.

Some people are naturally organized; some people aren’t. You get the point! We all have our own unique situation, so stop comparing and feeling bad about yourself! Pesach prep is hard work, and you should be proud of what you’re accomplishing – l’fum tzara agra (the reward is according to the level of difficulty)!

2. Here’s how to get the kitchen done with the least stress:

Wipe down the outsides of the cabinets with cleanser, tape them shut with painter’s tape, and SELL THEM ALL. You don’t need cabinets; you can store your Pesach utensils, food, etc. in clean cardboard boxes on the floor. Remember, it’s only for a week.

Shove your fridge into a corner and cover it with a sheet and painter’s tape and SELL IT. Rent a fridge from Rent-a-Center ($75 – $10, I think); it’ll be delivered to you already clean, although you may want to give it a quick runover with a cleanser-soaked shmatte.

The rest of the kitchen jobs are pretty do-able. Wiping down the walls doesn’t take long. Kashering the oven and the sink is also not a huge job; just clean them as best you can with lots of cleanser and don’t get all obsessive. The main thing is to plan ahead for the waiting period before you can kasher them. And mopping the floor shouldn’t take long either; remember, you’re not looking for immaculate, you just need to get cleanser over the entire floor. Covering shouldn’t take too long since you’re not doing cabinets, you’re just doing your counter and your stove.

3. If you think there might be actual chametz scattered throughout the house (and I totally understand, because that’s how my house is), and you have no time/energy to clean the rooms, then please sell everything you can! Closets, rooms, whole sections of the house – whatever you need to do. If you’re worried your kids might go in those areas by mistake, hang up plastic tablecloths or use lots of crisscrossed painter’s tape to section off areas that don’t have doors.

4. Don’t go crazy with the Pesach cooking! Desserts can be grape juice ices (pour juice into small plastic cups and freeze) or fruit salad. My kids love pureed ripe banana frozen in little cups too (get bananas that are speckled brown and really sweet). For the main course, just make huge pans of chicken and potatoes or meat and potatoes if you want; it’s delicious and filling. Buy a bunch of unripe avocados about a week before Pesach and they’ll be ripe over Yom Tov; delicious to smear on matzah with a little salt. A big tossed salad helps with digesting the matzah, so if you have time, make one, but it’s not essential.

5. Remember that you have a huge mitzvah on Pesach to really feel what it is to be taken out of Mitzrayim by HKBH. The more we talk about the nissim of Pesach and about Hashem’s incredible love for us at the Seder, the better. We are so incredibly privileged and gebentched!!! So, while you’re cleaning and cooking beforehand, try to listen to some shiurim about Yetzias Mitzrayim so you get in the right mindset for the Seder. If you can get out on Shabbos Hagadol for a ladies’ drasha, that helps too.

Wishing everyone a lot of hatzlocha with their Pesach preparations, and a Chag Kasher v’Sameach!!!