The house needs cleaned.
  Dishes are piled up, the living room is trashed, playroom's a mess and not a bed in the house is made.
  To top it off, Mom is out of the house for the next four hours and company is coming over tonight.
  In addition to all that, you have a busy day scheduled.
  Often, fathers bail out by attempting to "command" the children to do it all.
  After all, most of the messes can be attributed to them in one fashion or another.
I submit to you that the wise father rally the troops and jump into the fray as well.
  Children left with minimal supervision will generally perform less than an adult minimum standard of work.
  Yes, some households are able to achieve a high level of cleanliness through fear tactics, but the damage done to parent/child relationships and your child's self esteem are not worth it in my opinion.
  By stepping in and helping out, a father sends many positive messages on many fronts.
Leading by example is one of the best ways to teach your children leadership.
  By showing your children you can competently clean and that you are willing to pitch in, you show them that when everyone works together under solid, positive direction, you can achieve great things.
  You also take away the feeling of "foreverdom" a child can feel when looking at a large housecleaning job.
  Seeing Dad in there working with them often inspires your children to perform at a higher level, especially if you've taught them your standards of cleanliness.
Teamwork is always a good thing to pursue within a family.
  Much too often we attack the household chores in a piecemeal, disjointed fashion where it's everyone for themselves.
  Dumas had the right of it in his Three Musketeers characters - "All for one, and one for all!"  The atmosphere you help create here is priceless.
  Ultimately, I propose that your time investment will eventually diminish.
  By having everyone work together under your guidance and follow-up, the work is done quickly, efficiently and it offers you an opportunity to give positive feedback and praise to your children.
  Children crave this from their parents, especially their fathers.
  Fathers can be distant adults that only interact in times of great fun or great distress (like discipline).
  By interacting on a day-to-day level and interacting in a positive manner, you can profoundly influence your children.
Dads have a way of making things fun.
  When you make games out of cleaning - assigning each child a particular color of item to be picked up and put away for example, you instill a sense of urgency (in this case for them to show you how many red things they can find to clean up, or blue things, etc) and a sense of fun.
  Mom is not too upset by this either.
  Mom most often will be speechless.
  Once she regains her voice, she will sing your praises to everyone she knows and she will look at you in a different light.
A positive influence on your children.
  Leadership skills demonstrated and taught.
  Teamwork.
  Fun.
  Better relations with Mom.
  Oh, and lest I forget, you have a clean house to show for it.
  What does this cost you?  Maybe and hour a day.
  Less once you get in a groove.
  Another side-effect is that the house will be maintained at a higher level.
  All it takes is for you, a father, to take the lead on something few people enjoy.
  When you work together, the drudgery of it all fades quickly away.
  Dad, step up and make your house a joy to be in, even in the midst of a cleanup.
  The rewards are too many to pass up!