Light housekeeping is the weekly job: dishes, floors, beds, and the surfaces people touch every day. Heavy cleaning comes around less often and needs equipment, time, and sometimes height. Families who skip this distinction end up with a schedule that covers the daily work and leaves the seasonal jobs owned by nobody.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Start with a list. Common heavy jobs include the insides of windows and sills, baseboards and door frames, the inside of the oven, range hood filters, light fixtures and ceiling fans, carpet and upholstery, cabinet fronts, and reorganizing closets and pantry shelves. Add anything specific to your house.

For each job, answer five questions:

  • Does it need a ladder or a step stool? Most companion aide scope sheets do not include climbing, and a stool in the wrong hands is a fall risk. Check the scope sheet before you assign the job.
  • Does it need cleaning products? Read the labels, decide where the products are stored, and keep them out of reach of anyone who should not use them.
  • How long does it take, and how often does it need doing?
  • Who has the equipment, and does it work?
  • Does your parent want to be in the room, or is an empty house that day easier for everyone?

Then compare three possible owners for each job: the family on a set weekend, the aide on a narrow list if the agency scope allows it, or a separate cleaning service. Compare them on who is responsible if the job is skipped, whether the arrangement is written down, who holds the keys or codes, and whether the same people return each season.

Write the seasonal list on paper with an owner and a target month beside each job. Spring and fall are common times families choose, and a short list with names next to it is easier to keep than a vague plan to do everything at once. Review it with the agency coordinator so the aide's schedule does not quietly absorb jobs the scope never included.

For the ladder, cabinet, and step work, run through the room checks in home safety, room by room before anyone climbs.