Well, the Pesach things are packed and the boxes are waiting to be put into the garage (need daylight for that!), and the kitchen is basically back to normal. Actually, I think it always looks better than normal right after we turn over, since every surface is so clean and clear!
I was visiting a friend at the end of yom tov, and we got to see their family kick into high gear as soon as yom tov ended. I enjoyed seeing her husband and his three visiting adult brothers go into action – wow! They really were some team. They said they grew up doing it, so now it’s automatic for them. I told my kids to watch them and get some inspiration since they made it look fun, but as my kids watched how fast everything was getting done, a couple of them said it was kind of discouraging because it wouldn’t be like that in our house. I commented to my friend about this, and she said they do something special at the end of it all that everyone looks forward to. We do that when we turn the kitchen over for Pesach, but not when we turn it back over for chometz, and I thought that was a great idea.
My kids did a great job working together – everyone over the age of 6 stayed up (the 6 and 8 year olds by request, the ten year old because I told him he had to :)) to help. My main job was reading to the three year old and putting him to sleep, then supervising everyone and making notes to include on the boxes for next year. (I did more later on when the kids had finished their work.) My dh was able to help out for a while before he had to go to sleep – he has to leave for work very early in the morning, and wouldn’t have gotten a decent amount of sleep even if he hadn’t helped out, so I really appreciate him taking time he didn’t have to pitch in. Right before he went to sleep, he got a call from my friend, informing him that she ordered pizza for us and the pizzas were on the way!
Wasn’t that amazingly sweet of her to think of us! I’m sure she was thinking it would be something nice for my kids at the end of the night, and it was. There was some time between when I told my kids about the call and when the pizza arrived (apparently there was a very long line at the pizza store), and boy, did that give them all a second wind to keep going! They really enjoyed it, and though the night ended very late for everyone (they went to sleep about a half hour ago, and it’s 2 am now), it ended with a good feeling from everyone.
I’m so glad that we have a decent amount of food in the freezer to make tomorrow a more relaxed day, especially since we have guests coming for Shabbos lunch. It could too easily feel like non stop cooking and preparing if we didn’t have so much done. I also have a bunch of things I want to accomplish outside of the kitchen (mostly related to preparing the garden and cleaning up the yard) but I have to see how everyone is doing in the morning, since I don’t want anyone to feel overloaded. I’ve told them all to sleep in as late as they want, but my ds10 and ds15 are unlikely to, as they go to minyan together every morning, and haven’t missed a morning in six months, regardless of what kind of weather they’ve had to walk in! So the two of them will end up needing naps when they get home, I think!
Wishing everyone a day of serenity and positivity!
Avivah
