Family Living: Ready, Set, Pesach

Pesach is Coming / Pesach is Here / We clean out the chometz from all the year… warbles my preschooler. But in real life, how? Real women share their preparation tips

The First Job I Do for Pesach

Buy the kids’ clothing for Yom Tov and try on the clothing I want to hand down from kid to kid. The Jewish seamstresses in my area stop working early to make Yom Tov, and the last place open for alterations is crazy expensive. And don’t remind me of the year that we forgot to pick up our alterations and cleaner’s bag on Erev Bedikas Chometz. True story! We had to call the (Jewish) owner at home and beg him to open the store on Erev Pesach. So, clothing first. Cleaning can wait.

 R.H.

Order anything I want to get from China so that it arrives in time! Like cloth napkins for the Seder, nice napkin rings, hair accessories, and kids’ Shabbos shoes. (My little secret — apparently, everyone else buys them in the local stores for $80 a pair.)

C.H.

First, I take stock of my chometz, like macaroni, cereal, and croutons, and I stop restocking it so I won’t be stuck when nobody wants leftovers anymore. Does that count?

H.J.

The first actual cleaning job I do is clean the places out of the babies’ reach. The rest has to wait till close to Yom Tov.