Moving Right Along

I am moving onto Pesach now.

No, I am not finished with everything for Purim. My shalch manos will need to be assembled at the last minute (out of character, I know). I still need to purchase part of it that also has to be bought toward the end of the week. 5 out of 7 kids have costumes ready; the other 2 are on their own. I have an evening this week set aside to make my contributions for our Purim seuda (it's the one Yom Tov of the year where we go as guests!!!). But that's pretty much it - I have my list of to-do's, and I know which days I plan to do them. Nothing else to stress or worry about. Yes, it's a busy week. But I feel like it's all manageable.

Purim is one day that you can choose to make yourself crazy or not. There are very little requirements you MUST do. If you choose to make creative and/or stunning themed shaloch manos, so be it. If your Purim seudah is elaborate and gourmet, again, it's your choice. However, you can also do simple. You can do store-bought. You can be practical.

Pesach, on the other hand, is a very different story.

There are MANY requirements which are not optional. How fancy the food you cook is a moot point after all of the hours and days you spend getting there. (Sadly, some people don't even have the time or energy left to cook and have to do much of that on Yom Tov.)

The way to get to Pesach in a sane and functioning state is to start now. (If you simply can't think about this before Purim is over in a week from now, stop reading and come back in 7 days and read what you've missed.) Otherwise, get ready for the most organized and happy Pesach preparations yet.

The first thing I recommend is that you get a binder or notebook to keep all of your Pesach things together. (Thank you to Chani Mendlowitz for teaching me all about the Pesach notebook and entrusted me with hers so I could start mine.) I started with my notebook in 1997 and it worked beautifully until recently. I just switched over to a binder since the pages of the notebook were starting to tear. (As I've mentioned, I am transferring all of my recipes that were collected all of these years in that notebook to the computer, and I am looking forward to sharing as soon as I finish.)

The first section should be "Cleaning". This section should be customized to work for you, but for tonight, let's start with the basics.

Go to your computer and find a way to print out calendars. For February, just print off a month view. (There's only a week left and there's not much available time to devote to Pesach preps with Purim a week away.) For March, print a month view and then print week by week. For 1-2 weeks before Pesach, I print single day calendars for major lists of the myriad of last minute things. Again, you will do what works for you. Try it this way, and see what you think.

To recap for tonight:

- Get yourself a binder or a notebook
- Print off your blank calendar pages

Post any questions or e-mail. We'll continue with cleaning tomorrow.