Hell Week

I am not referring to the testing week for the Navy SEALS or the pledge week in fraternities, I am referring to something much tougher and more dreaded. I of course am talking about the week before Pesach. Especially here in Israel, where in addition to the OCD approved cleaning, and the normally stocked fridges and pantries are as empty as Walmart during the Daytona 500, we have the added challenge of the schools being on vacation a full 10 days before Pesach. That's right, some sadistic individual in the education department decided that teachers are people too, and they also need to prepare for the holiday. Now imagine the challenge of cleaning a house with 4 little crumb magnets underfoot who need to be fed and entertained. Now before any of you Alpha-parents start with your "just have them help" silliness, I want to remind you that it is not your spouse who put the cookie in the playmobil container to save it for later, or who sticks their half eaten peanut butter chocolate sandwich in their pocket for later. Let's face it, children are the reason we need to bleach literally every surface in the house. Little Red hides Cheerios in her diaper so she can leave a trail of them as she wanders the house just so she won't get lost, there is no way the house will get cleaner with the kids around more.
This is why we have learned our lesson. We now send our kids to one of the half day backyard camps run by the very capable teenagers of the neighborhood. It's a win-win situation. The kids get to go out and play with friends for a few hours, the teenagers do something responsible and stay out of trouble, and the house gets clean and stays calm. I never thought i'd say this, but thank G-D for teenagers, our house may actually be ready for the family invasion later this week.
Please excuse me, I am hungry and there's nothing to eat, I wonder of that cookie is still with the playmobil...