Putting Cleaning Into Perspective

We spend an awful lot of time talking about cleaning--I suppose that it's as good a way as any to avoid actually having to do that cleaning. But my mind wandered into a different area of Pesach for a moment this morning, and I found myself gulping in reaction. Pesach lasts for 8 days; however, in most homes the kitchen is already Pesachdik at least 2 days before the chag so you can get to the cooking. So let's talk about 10 days of Pesachdik meals. Let's give you an average family for Pesach of 6 people, and let's leave any company out of the equation for a moment. 6 people times 10 days for three meals a day equals 180 servings you are going to be cooking. This does not include any snacking that will be done, and with daylight savings time in effect, with a large gap between lunchtime and dinner time, there is going to be snacking. The kids are all going to be home over chol hamoed and that means friends over to play, which equals more food that is going to be served. Now let's add in company meals. This amount can vary greatly from house to house, and from day to day. And if your company is actually staying with you then you need to count them as a family member for purposes of meals they are going to eat. And let's not forget that there are two sedorim that need special foods prepared for them, again times the number of people who will be sitting down at the seder table. Forget cleaning woes: that other "C" word--cooking--is coming up fast. And just to truly rain on your parade, all that cooking is going to result in more cleaning--those dishes don't wash themselves. And then, of course, there is that other "C" word that comes along with cooking--cost.