Preparing the house for Pesach is a yearly challenge for many housewives. When there are young children, the task is more complicated, since little children cannot be relied on to follow rules and chometz might be lying anywhere in the house. In addition, children need care during Pesach preparation time, and they are off from school during the critical week before Pesach. In this article, compiled from interviewing experienced homemakers and other community members, we provide ideas and tips to make cleaning for Pesach less stressful for the entire family.
Why “Make Pesach”?
Many young couples have the option of spending the entire Pesach with their parents. Nevertheless, couples should consider the reasons to make Pesach in the early years of their marriage. Practice makes the process easier and younger parents often have more time, energy and flexibility than they will have later. When couples keep postponing making their own Pesach, the task builds itself up into something they feel incapable of accomplishing later on.
Moreover, life is unpredictable: due to pregnancy, changes in family dynamics, or other events; the family may not have the option to go to the grandparents the following year. In addition, some children do not travel well and have trouble sleeping or behaving properly in a different environment. It may be worthwhile to create the capability to spend Pesach in one’s own home this year, by preparing the house for chol hamoed, so that spending the Yom Tov at home is a more feasible option in the future.
Young parents sometimes make Pesach in their own home in order to provide their children with a seder customized to their age, temperament, and interests. This is something to discuss with a Rav or mentor, since making one’s own seder means giving up the mesora one gains from a multi-generational seder at the grandparents.
“Don’t Throw the Kids Out with the Chometz”
This quote from a community Rav neatly sums up the balance parents need to strike between preparing a Pesach that is kosher vs. a Pesach that is sameach (joyful). It violates the spirit of Pesach when the yom tov acquires bitter associations of anger and tension between the parents and children. The best way to mitigate this potential is to plan ahead.
Speak with a Rav
Parents need to decide how much of the house they are going to clean and how they are going to clean it. There are different standards and methods for preparing a place for Pesach. Typically, parents of young children are under perennial stress due to sleep deprivation and the physical demands of childcare. Therefore, it may be a good idea for them to adopt a less ambitious and less labor intensive Pesach cleaning. It is helpful to consult a Rav at the outset to strike the correct balance between responsibility to halacha and the need to maintain the physical and emotional health of the family. The Rav should be able to direct the parents to a Pesach preparation guide that is right for them.
Before speaking with their Rav, parents should think about the specific challenges their family faces. Listing the number of children and their ages does not give an accurate picture of the family’s situation, since children vary considerably in their obedience, neatness, and need for attention. Parents, too, vary in energy level, availability, and ability to cope with stress. Financial resources, i.e. the ability to hire help and buy prepared food, and human resources, i.e. relatives who can take care of the children or feed the family the Shabbos before Pesach, also differ. A family that finds it difficult to keep up with meals, laundry, and normal Shabbos preparation should make this clear to their Rav.
Plan Ahead
Once parents have decided what must be done to prepare for Pesach, they need to determine how they will accomplish it. This includes deciding how much to budget for expenses such as cleaning help, babysitting, or eating out. It also includes scheduling the different tasks.
Think About Logistics
When should the car be clean enough to buy Pesach groceries? How will the stroller, the car seat, the van, and the couch stay chometz-free once they are thoroughly cleaned?
Parents should also consider how much of the kitchen should be made Pesach-dik. Every cabinet and every surface devoted to Pesach use must be emptied, cleaned and/or covered; after Pesach, the process must be reversed. It pays, therefore, to minimize the area to turn over. A great labor saver is to close off the cabinets and set up a table in an adjoining room to hold Pesach supplies.
Meals Before Pesach
The family needs to eat during Pesach cleaning, and even when the kitchen is turned over. Many families buy Pesach-dik snacks and convenience foods. Some mothers try to make this stressful time more cheerful by purchasing Pesach-dik treats and fast food they would not permit the rest of the year. The advantage of giving the children kosher l’Pesach snacks is if crumbs are found in a “cleaned” room, they are likely to be non-chometz. Mother may also cook Pesach-dik food for the family and/or offer non-chometz snacks such as fruit, cheese, or yogurt.
Another approach is to set up a self-contained chometz area, usually in the basement or garage, equipped with table, chairs, toaster oven, and/or a burner and a mini-refrigerator. Either the area is cleaned after each use or the family must allocate time on Erev Pesach to clean it thoroughly. If they do not need the area for Yom Tov, they may be able to sell it.
Make Lists
After consulting a calendar, parents may create a count-down of the tasks that need to be accomplished by sun-down Erev Pesach. Shopping lists, too, may be generated in advance. The goal is to be able to work when there is free time rather than having to stop and think. Lists may be reused from year to year; keeping them in a notebook or on the computer makes this easier. It is useful to add “post scripts” after Pesach to note what worked well and what to change the following year.
Reserve Help
If parents have regular cleaning help, they should try to increase the hours before Pesach. If they do not have cleaning help, they should begin looking for some well ahead of time. Cleaning services and carpet cleaners get booked weeks ahead of Pesach. Note: It is difficult to book a cleaning lady to clean just for Pesach and they sometimes do not show up for a non-regular client. Cleaning services are more reliable, but much more expensive. An alternative may be to ask a friend who is not cleaning for Pesach to “lend” her cleaning help.
Parents should also try to find extra babysitting before Pesach. Younger daughters may be available, since older siblings take care of a large portion of the cleaning. Reaching out to even an eight year old neighbor may be worthwhile, as s/he may be able to entertain the kids while the parents work.
Shop Ahead
If there is a secure area to store things for Pesach, parents may begin shopping for the equipment they know they will need: pots, peelers, knives, etc. It may also be worthwhile to begin shopping for non-perishables, especially if they are on sale. Kosher meat and poultry tend to be kosher for Pesach all year round; if there is free, clean space in the freezer, it may pay to stock up.
“Spring Clean”
Mothers frequently combine spring cleaning with Pesach cleaning, because the tasks often mesh well and it’s nice to have a clean house for Yom Tov. The problem is that spring cleaning expands the task of chometz removal, tiring the parents, and stressing the family. A compromise is to begin spring cleaning well before Pesach, perhaps around Tu B’Shvat. After Purim is a good time to switch to chometz removal.
Certain types of spring cleaning are useful preparation for Pesach. Getting rid of clutter in closets and drawers make the task of bedikas chometz much easier and more effective. Removing and washing drapes and linens sometimes exposes concealed chometz. Washing the light fixtures and wiping the windows and the moldings is less relevant to Pesach preparation and might be skipped or rescheduled for another time of the year.
When & Where to Begin
The general approach to Pesach cleaning is to start at the periphery, that is, the areas furthest from the kitchen and work one’s way to the kitchen via the living room and dining room until “turnover” time. The main concern here is the likelihood that more chometz will enter a cleaned area after it has been declared chometz-free. Much depends on the age and personality of the children—do they tend to wander with chometz? How likely are they to stash food? Some children actively seek out their favorite chometz foods, even climbing to reach high cabinets.
For such families, it is a wasted effort to clean for Pesach (as opposed to spring cleaning) until a week or two before Yom Tov. At that point, they may need to “blitz” through the house possibly into the early morning hours. They might find it useful to begin their Pesach cleaning in areas less accessible or less interesting to the children: upper cabinets and upper shelves.
Pesach cleaning may begin with cleaning the less essential kitchen items, such as cookie cutters or specialized equipment, and putting them away in sealed bags. It is easier to work on the kitchen if parents commit themselves relatively early to stop baking before Pesach. Mother may spend the week after Purim preparing and freezing casseroles to eat during the hectic week before Pesach. Pack the meals in microwave safe containers, so they can be reheated even after the oven is Pesach-dik. This is also a good time to take a thorough inventory of the refrigerator and pantry, discarding chometz that is unlikely to be consumed, and deliberately consuming what is still usable. This saves much time during the critical turnover process.
The Toys
Less used toys may be cleaned and put away weeks before Pesach and given back to the children when the house is Pesach-dik. Small pieces, such as lego and clicks, may be put into a tied-up pillow case and washed with the laundry (try this with small quantities first). Another option is to sell all or most of the toys rather than cleaning them and give the children a special set of Pesach toys. During the year, parents may save gifts, especially duplicates of toys they already own, for this purpose. Children are usually excited when the Pesach toys reappear.
Using Cleaning Help
Hired help makes cleaning for Pesach much easier, however, parents must realize that the help knows how to clean, but not how to get rid of chometz. They are not familiar with all the foods that must be discarded (they’ll wipe the barley jar and put it back into the pantry). They also may not understand our priorities, spending excessive time scrubbing the moldings rather than vacuuming the crevices in the upholstered chairs. Cleaning women are usually most effective when cleaning appliances, floors, and kitchen chairs. It is imperative to give the help detailed instructions, to supervise as they clean, and to inspect carefully as they finish different tasks. This is more difficult when using a cleaning service that sends a whole crew to “do the house” in a few hours.
Involving the Children
Children are more likely to cooperate and to absorb the Pesach experience if they are involved with preparing for the Yom Tov. However, it is not healthy when older children feel that their help is utterly essential and that their parents cannot manage without them. Parents should plan with the children in mind to decide how to use their help productively.
Playing Pesach-themed CD or DVDs spreads a positive mood in the house, whether or not the children are actually helping with the cleaning. Singing Pesach songs as they work together enhances the experience. By trading CD/DVDs with the neighbors, families may increase their options.
Little Children
Little children are usually excited to help clean for Pesach. Even two year olds may be equipped with rags and spray bottles filled with water and told to wash walls and other surfaces. Preschoolers may be put into the bathtub (with supervision) with soapy water and toys and instructed to scrub them clean for Pesach. Weather permitting; the kids may hose down large toys and plastic items, such as tables and chairs. This procedure is more effective when dirtier items are first smeared with soft scrub. Once they learn to write, children may create “No Chometz” signs to label rooms and areas as they are cleaned for Pesach. This also enhances awareness and compliance with pre-Pesach rules.
Older Children
As they age, children are often less excited to help for Pesach. However, they may help clear the accumulation in their rooms and put away toys and books for after Pesach. Many parents motivate children to clean the car by allowing them to keep any money that they find. One mother “seeds” an area to be cleaned, such as a book case, with funny items, to make sure that the children actually do go through the whole area. A treat-filled party is a nice way to reward children for a few hours of hard work.
Note: Make sure to check the children’s’ cleaning work.
Tips and Strategies
Prioritize
The regular cleaning and household chores should be reduced so that the parents and the help focus on Pesach cleaning. Mother may have to do more of the everyday housework while the help cleans out the fridge.
Reduce the Scope for Chometz Mess
Sometime after Purim, eliminate the tiny chometz items, such as Cheerios, crackers or soup nuts, that get distributed all over the house. Potato chips and the like might substitute for these few weeks.
Create Blocks of Time for Cleaning
Most mothers cannot work efficiently on the “serious” Pesach cleaning when the children are around. Either the parents stay up very late the nights before Pesach and/or they have the husband take the children out. Kid-swaps, where friends or neighbors take turns hosting all the children, are an inexpensive way to find a chunk of time, especially when the children are off from school the week before Pesach.
Check the Chometz Hangouts
Families with little children typically find much chometz in strollers (and their basket), diaper bags, knapsacks, coats, high chairs, play pens, car seats, and the children’s desks. Generally, any place in which a young child spends time is likely to have food—the couch, the area that s/he stands while looking out the window, the bed, or the comfy chair. Toy kitchens, trucks with cargo areas, toy pocket books, heating vents, and behind radiators are other classics.
High chairs are easier to clean by giving them a shower or a bath. Strollers may be hosed down outdoors, with the pads washed on the gentle cycle and hung to dry. Some families buy an inexpensive high chair just for Pesach.
Moving furniture and storage boxes may uncover more chometz, but check with a Rav to determine if it’s necessary. In a process similar to child-proofing, parents should try to examine their rooms from a toddler’s point of view for handy places to put food when they are done.
Avoid Extra Work
Clearing out all the chometz requires physical energy and mental alertness when there are little children around. Therefore, parents must avoid burning themselves out through unnecessary scrubbing, since this may cause them to skip that crucial last minute check of the swimming bag that unearths the granola bar.