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In this series, I have tackled home organization myths which are used as excuses to justify not getting organized. All of us put off organizing now and again (or most of the time!). It is nothing to be ashamed of, but it is something which you should strive to overcome.

Sometimes we resist getting organized because we feel like we are too busy. Quite often, that excuse comes down to one specific complaint:

“My kids don’t want to help me get organized. They are always in the way or taking up too much of my time, so I just can’t get around to tidying up.”

There are some home organization tips and ideas however you can use to get your kids involved with organizing.

• Turn organizing into a game. This is one of the best tips for organizing with younger children. Young kids usually have short attention spans. Find ways you can keep their attention. For example, if you are organizing children’s toys together, make it a race to see who can get all of a certain kind of toy put away in plastic toy bin organizers the fastest.

• Show your appreciation and respect. Parents often put kids on the defensive right off the top with cleaning and organizing. They treat it like a nasty chore and scold their children when they do not meet a certain expectation—even if their children are trying. Think about how hard organizing can be for you. Give your kids credit for doing their best, even if that means you need to do a little extra work to finish the job. Empower your children by letting them know you are proud of them!

• Teach children about valuing objects. There are many schools of thought about how to do this. Personally I do not feel like this should be about restricting toys to arbitrary quantities. If a child truly does not value a toy, donate it—but if a child does value all their toys, respect those possessions. Organize your own possessions to teach children that doing so is important. If you value your own possessions and treat them with respect, your kids will follow suit. Whether we allow clutter to pile up or we are constantly replacing our own possessions, the message we send children is identical: objects are not valuable, and do not need to be treated with care.

Finally, one last tip I would share is to respect your children’s schedules and needs for privacy. Obviously you need to pick some time for them to get organized, but give them a voice. You are far more likely to get cooperation if you let children tell you a day and a time that works for them. With smaller children, work closely together to organize—little kids enjoy the personal attention. With older children, allow them to organize independently. Show them that you trust them to be responsible on their own, and they are more likely to comply.