Getting the Family to Function as a Team

The house is a mess. Dishes need to be done. Laundry is piled up and the kids' toys are strewn everywhere in their rooms. How do you get your family to work together as a team to get the place cleaned up in a jiffy?

Make activities fun. Turn it into a game. Use an egg timer you can find the dollar store, especially if your kids can't tell time yet. Set the timer for a specific period of time, say 10 minutes and say "Suzy, you take the bathroom. Bobby, you take the kitchen. Robby, you take___etc..." and let the timer go.

Turn off the TV. It's a huge distraction. The point was proved when the cable went out one evening during dinner and there was nothing but black and white static on the TV. It was left on for about five minutes to see what would happen. The kids kept looking up at it and watching it for no reason, not concentrating on the food in front of them. It was amazing.

Keep the activities focused on one at a time. While the adults take the major responsibilities, keep the kids on task with one assigned task until it's finished.

Slather on the praise. Praise and acknowledge those who helped transform the house from a classic case of before = disaster zone to after = almost a major remodel. The more you reward those who helped, the more often they are likely to do it again, especially when it's a group event.

Keep everyone on top with "friendly reminders" to do their part to keep the house clean. Take the dishes to the sink as soon as your done eating. Pick up the dirty clothes and put them where they belong before you leave the room. Turn out the lights when you're done. Teach your family members to do small simple, repeatable tasks they can do while they are on their way from one place to another or do to a task when they are thinking about it, especially if it only takes a few minutes. Doing this on a regular basis will actually reduce the severity of cleaning sessions you have to endure when everyone does their part.