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The cooking is the easy part. The dishes are the marathon.

In our house, the answer is simple: nobody cleans up alone.

We have family chores, and we keep them going on Thanksgiving. The turkey doesn’t pause the chore chart. Everyone eats together, and then everyone helps put the day back in order.

How our family cleans up

Here is how the jobs usually get split:

• Washing dishes. A couple of kids take the sink.
• Loading the dishwasher. Another helper keeps the dirty plates moving into it.
• Clearing and wiping the table. Everything off, then a good wipe-down.
• Sweeping. Thanksgiving crumbs find every corner.
• Vacuuming and wet-mopping the floors. We use our Tineco for this.
• Picking up the floors and the living area. Blankets, shoes, toys, the usual.

There is also one more job, and it is everybody’s favorite: help mom. Someone is always assigned to work beside her. That might mean putting away dishes from the rack, helping in the kitchen, or doing whatever she needs after we eat. The kids fight over it, because it means time with mom.

That is the quiet gift of clean-up. It can be a chore, or it can be time together. If you want to build the habit for your own house, our posts on the family systems that keep a big house running and age-appropriate chores are a good place to start.

The floors: our Tineco

With a big family, the floors take the biggest beating on a holiday. We let the kids handle the vacuuming and wet-mopping with our Tineco, a cordless wet-dry vacuum that does both in one pass. We wrote about why it works so well for us in our Tineco Floor ONE S5 review. The Floor ONE S5 is here: Tineco Floor ONE S5 #ad.

Trade-off: it costs more than a regular mop and vacuum, and the little ones should use it with supervision.

Helpers for the sink and the dishwasher

These are the kinds of items that make a big clean-up crew run smoother. We found them while shopping for this page and chose them for their reviews.

• Roll-up dish drying rack: Seropy roll-up rack #ad. It fits over the sink and rolls away, which helps when counters are full of pies. Trade-off: it holds lighter loads than a standing rack, so keep heavy pans separate.
• Dishwasher pods: Cascade Platinum Plus pods #ad. Check the count before you buy. This listing is a smaller count, which goes fast in a big family.
• Scrub sponges: Scotch-Brite Zero Scratch sponges, 6-pack #ad. A good pick for non-stick pans and glass. Trade-off: they wear out, so keep spares.
• Microfiber kitchen towels: Geometry microfiber towels #ad. Handy for drying and wiping the table. Trade-off: wash them without fabric softener so they keep absorbing.

Make less to wash

Some of the best clean-up help is the stuff you never have to scrub:

• Slow cooker liners #ad. Lift the liner out, and the pot is nearly clean. Trade-off: one more thing to buy and throw away.
• Aluminum foil pans with lids #ad. Good for sending leftovers home, or for a dish that travels to someone else’s house. Trade-off: they’re thin, so set them on a baking sheet when they’re full.
• Thanksgiving paper plates and napkins #ad. We save these for the extra-crowded days. Trade-off: it is less eco-friendly, and you may prefer real plates for the main meal.

The real secret

None of the products matter as much as the habit. Kids who help clean up learn that a home is something the whole family builds together. And mom gets a few minutes at the kitchen counter with a helper beside her. That is the part we wouldn’t trade.

What jobs does your family hand out after Thanksgiving dinner? Tell us in the group, because we would love to steal an idea or two.

Want more family-tested ideas? Join our Everyday Us Deals group on Facebook.