Monday, March 22, 2010

My Wimpadoo Cleaning

"Wimpadoo?"  I just made that up; it's not a real word.

Today I was feeling like "Wow! I'm making progress!!"  Then, whoops!  I noticed the nextdoor neighbor.  He had his fridge on the little mirpeset, terrace by the front door.  It was stripped.  You could see the coils.  How obscene.  It looked whiter than virgin snow in an unpolluted meadow.  And I get so proud when I slide out a shelf for cleaning.

My elder son was over to help, and he did help.  The two "spare" bedrooms were as done as I'm going to do them and the same for the laundry room.  Yesterday I pulled out the stove, cleaned the sides and the filthy floor.  Today my son pulled out our fridge to clean the floor.

OK, this isn't a contest.  Just because the neighbor takes apart his appliances, I don't have to.  If the grime doesn't get off with soap and elbow grease, it can't be edible, so if it's not edible it's not chametz.

I'm glad I got that off my chest.

Passover cleaning isn't worth getting aggravated and sick. 

We took apart and cleaned some disgusting windows in one of the bedrooms, no, not because we thought it wasn't kosher for Passover.  We don't eat off the windows.  They were dirty and he knows how to take them apart and help me and put them back.  I was very grateful for the help.  It's hard to do everything myself; I'm not getting any younger.

7 comments:

Mrs. S. said...

OK, this isn't a contest.
I think it's very important to remember this, because it's very easy to get intimidated by other people's Pesach preparations.

For instance, our neighbors always whitewash all their walls for Pesach, but obviously, painting has nothing to do with getting rid of chametz...

Batya said...

Mrs. S, We've painted so infrequently, it's embarrassing. You really have to stay on top of things to get the place painted/whitewashed.

Israeli stone floors are so different from the wood and carpets I was raised with. I'll never catch on, and I'm here almost 40 years.

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
Dust isn't hametz. Enough said. I don't clean for Shabbat the way some of my neighbors do either.
Almost 20 years ago a heard an interesting comment. It used to be that people who had large houses and many possessions could afford a large housekeeping staff. Today families with large houses are not necessarily able to afford cleaning help, so Pesah preparations are not what they used to be.

Batya said...

Hadassa, 40 years ago, when most Israelis lived in small sparsely furnished homes, the floors were washed every day. Chairs were on the tables. Everything was put away. I found that terribly frightening and never got into the habit.

Today even in larger homes, there are too many possessions and I don't think anyone cleans like that.

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
I know women who mop kitchen/dining areas every day, chairs on the table. They keep spotless homes, and don't drive their children crazy. Most of them have college degrees. Some work outside of the home. I've come to the conclusion that for them, cleaning comprises the bulk of their relaxation and entertainment time. One of the women mentioned a few years ago that she couldn't enjoy the Seder because she sat opposite the curtains in the salon that she hadn't had time to wash. She's only about five years older than I am. Another one said quite enthusiastically, "I love cleaning!"
I cleaned all day today. This is my first non-meal break. I would go bonkers keeping the house this clean year round. I don't know how they do it.

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
I should add that I fell asleep for a few hours on the couch before I went on-line. I haven't been cleaning until midnight.

Batya said...

Hadassa, I wish that I could enjoy cleaning. I do like hanging out the wash. It's the folding and putting away that I find boring. I don't mind if there's a movie or tv show to watch while I'm doing it.
But dusting and general cleaning, yuck. I had my kids make their own beds, even putting on clean sheets from the youngest age.