Why is this night different from all other nights?

Because tonight marks the 4 week mark until the seder.

4 weeks from tonight we will be getting ready to usher in Pesach by lighting the candles in our very clean and sparkling homes.

We just need to get there.

We left off before Purim with our calendars. Now that you have yours ready, and your list of rooms to be cleaned(see post from 2/24), it's time to put them on the calendar and give them deadlines.

First thing is to merge your family calendar with your Pesach cleaning calendar. The way to do that is to first write down your appointments, your carpools, any days the kids have off of school or early dismissals, and any other random thing that is going to consume your time in the next 4 weeks.

Next step is to actually work backwards. Set a goal for when you want your kitchen to be turned over and write that on your calendar.

For example, if you want your kitchen to be kashered by Thursday night, and it takes you 3 days to accomplish this, write "kitchen" on Tuesday (3/23), Wednesday (3/24), and Thursday (3/25).
Now cross off the 3 lines where you have written "kitchen".

Continue to work backwards. The next logical thing for me to do BEFORE the kitchen is to have the living room and dining room done. I need and have allotted 2 days for these rooms. So I will put them on the calendar for 2 days, Sunday (3/21) and Monday (3/22). Now cross off the 2 entries for "living room" and "dining room".

Keep filling in your calendar, working backward, until all items on your cleaning list are crossed off and have a due date.

It's very important to truly think it through before your assign a room a date. If your kids are home from school on a particular day, it may be setting yourself up for failure if your hope to get the playroom cleaned on that day.


***Note for women who have full-time jobs outside of the home in addition to their full-time jobs inside the home:

This time of the year is particularly rough on us (I am including myself since I fall into this category). Ultimately, we have to do a full day's worth of tasks after already putting in 8 or so hours of work (plus any commute) into our paying job. This usually means giving up on some sleep (which may already be lacking) or some other important necessity. DON'T DESPAIR. Try very hard not to complain (your kids will take note of this), and do the best you can. It's only 4 weeks and the reward is immeasurable!


Try and finish your calendars by tomorrow night so you have the most amount of time to start cleaning.

As always, e-mail or post questions.