10 Tips for a Less Stressful Passover
BY DUBY LITVIN AND MJL ADMIN
1) Don’t Wing It, Plan It
Planning is imperative. Think of your house as your corporation and you
are its CEO. You are in charge. Just like a big company would plan out their
functions, so too you want to work on “Project Passover.” When you have a plan
in place, things will go much more smoothly.
2) Delegate To Your Team,
Including Children
As CEO it is your job to delegate and supervise all the tasks. The more
you delegate the better off you will be. If you can afford to, hire a cleaning
person to help. Have your spouse or a teenage son or daughter take care of the
shopping. Even if you think the job is small and easy, the less on your plate
the better.
The best thing with children under 6 is to have someone else take them
out of the house, so you can clean without them underfoot. Older children can
handle small jobs, such as wiping down toys and surfaces. In the kitchen, these
little helpers can do peeling, juicing, cracking nuts or other introductory
jobs. Know what your child can or can’t handle and let him or her feel
important.
3) Passover Cleaning vs. Spring Cleaning
Woman doing chores in the kitchen at home , sink and faucet with spray
cleaner
Imagine sitting down to a beautiful Passover seder – the house is
sparkling clean, the chandeliers are glistening, the windows are sparkling… and
you’re falling asleep. While it’s lovely to have them sparkle and shine,
chandeliers and windows are not imperative to making your home kosher for
Passover. Passover cleaning is any place that there’s a very good chance that
food was brought in. If you know there was no food brought there, then it
doesn’t have to be cleaned. Even food that’s been stuck on the wall, if it’s
more dirt than food then it doesn’t have to be scrubbed. For something to be
considered chametz, it needs to be edible and accessible.
4) Poor Man’s Bread or Bread that Makes Us Poor?
Rishon Le Zion, Israel - November 7, 2014: Cardboard box of Matzot Rishon
Matzos. Kosher for Passover. Challa is taken. Backed and packed by Em Hachita
Ltd, Jerusalem, Israel
For those buying only foods certified kosher-for-Passover, the holiday
can be very expensive. But you don’t have to make matzah or other processed
foods mainstays of your meals. Instead, focus on in-season fruits and
vegetables. Before heading to the supermarket, create a menu and shopping list,
and then stick to it.
5) Don’t Buy an Entire Kitchen
Your First Year
kitchen wares pots and pans
If you are making your house strictly kosher for Passover, you will need
to pack away your year-round dishes and cookware and replace them with Passover
ones. However, you can build up your Passover collection gradually. Start with
just the few crucial items the first year and each year buy a few more things
6) Your Best Friend Is Your List
365 day 81 - To-do list technology
From a cleaning to-do list to a detailed shopping lists, from last-minute
reminders to menus, lists will save your life. Don’t let the mental to-do list
overwhelm you – get it all down on paper and rest assured that nothing will be
forgotten. Keep everything in one place (or on your smartphone).
7) Passover Doesn’t Have to Be
Pinterest Worthy
While many people believe everything has to be picture-perfect, simplifying
can make your life a lot easier. Plan a new and fancy dish here and there if it
gives you pleasure, but don’t feel like you have to. Where possible, cook
things in advance and freeze them.
8) Leave the Bitterness to the Maror
The last thing you want is to have a chip on your shoulder when it comes
to holiday traditions. If you do feel resentful about the amount of work that
goes into holiday preparations, then something needs to change ASAP. Try to
shift your thinking from “yet another thing I have to do” to a place of “we
have an opportunity here.” Focus on what’s most important about Passover: the
seders, time with family and loved ones.
9) Have Fun and Create New
Traditions
My mother-in-law makes a special orange soup for Passover, and all her
grown children now make it as well, because it’s a beloved tradition. You may
think, who cares, it’s just soup … or it’s just the annual Passover week trip
to the park. But these are exactly the things that make Passover special. Here
are some ideas to make holiday prep more fun: putting music on when cleaning,
giving out prizes (to yourself as well as others) for accomplishing specific
tasks, special new toys for the holiday, create a photo contests with friends or family members
of “funniest items found while cleaning for Passover.”
10) When All is Said and Done, Get It In Writing!
Passover is over, and the last thing you want to do is look at one more
list, let alone go through it. But hang in there and jot down what worked, what
didn’t, if you bought too much matzah or not enough. Write down that new trick
you came up with to help the kids enjoy the seder. You will thank yourself next
year.
For more Passover planning tips from Duby Litvin, go to www.DubysPesachLists.com
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