Any day of the week, there are small tasks that can make a big difference to the family. I’ll list those tasks here, and have open spots on the calendar for you to sign up. Laundry—there are hampers in each bedroom and in the laundry room which always have dirty clothes and towels in them. To prevent dirty laundry from piling up, it’s helpful to put a load or two in when you’re visiting, or sort clean laundry so the kids can bring their clothes up to their rooms. Baby laundry should use the baby detergent so that stuff is washed separately. Clean towels can be folded and put away. Dishes—pretty much need to be washed 2-3x per day since there is no dishwasher and limited space for clean dishes. Meals—Calix and Sunshine eat a pretty limited selection of foods, but their meals are easy to prepare. Check with Ruby when you’re visiting to find out if she needs help making dinner for the kids. Most likely, they will not want to eat whatever food you bring over. But Nik and Ruby appreciate any hearty food, snacks and sweet treats you are able to provide. Groceries—it will be a while before Ruby can shop with Walter. If you are heading over, find out if she needs anything from the store. For weekly grocery shopping, I have suggested that they order online at Walmart.com and arrange to have someone pick up their order since there is no delivery to their location. Nik may also be able to pick up on his way home. I can help Ruby set that up on her phone to place orders. I also recommended they shop monthly at Costco for staple foods they go through quickly. (Milk, bread, eggs, butter, bananas, orange juice, cereal, bacon/sausage, peanut butter). **if you are in a position to contribute financially to the family, this site has integration with purchasing gift cards. Walmart is the only store listed which is accessible locally** General household maintenance—bathroom, kitchen, floors, helping the kids tidy their bedrooms, emptying trash (there is a dumpster on site), watering plants, putting laundry away, vacuuming up dead flies, putting groceries away. Child care support—when it is very cold or windy, Ruby usually picks the kids up from the bus stop down the road. This hasn’t been possible since Walter was born, so when you’re able to visit during the week, timing it with their arrival from school (3:40) can be very helpful. There may be other things they could use help with regarding the children, and Ruby isn'’t in the habit of asking for that help so please take the initiative to ask. And of course, the job everyone wants to do—holding the baby. Ruby needs breaks for self care and staying organized. Walter will take a bottle and doesn’t seem picky about who gives it to him, so if there is milk pumped, you may be able to help by feeding him. While I was with the family in October, I did some decluttering and organizing of key areas in the home to make things easier for them to maintain and keep track of. There are still some areas that could be upgraded for more efficiency and ease of use. Here are some of my notes from ideas I had: If I don’t get to it before I leave, the kids’ toy/game and bookshelf in the upstairs hallway could be organized better. It may require some plastic storage components to sort small things into. Calix could use some help making his room easier to clean. I think they could also use more plastic hangers so both kids can put their clothes away before their rooms pile up with mixed clean and dirty clothing. If the drum set could get moved out of the laundry room, there would be space for a changing station and storage for baby things that get used frequently while downstairs and are currently cluttering the entryway. The chest freezer in the garage works well but the lid is totally destroyed and won’t stay closed without having heavy things on top of it. It really ought to be replaced with something smaller and more efficient, so if you have an extra one you don’t need or see one on marketplace, talk to Nik about maybe swapping this one out. A second refrigerator in the garage would enable them to store more food and facilitate fewer shopping trips of larger quantities of food. In general, anything that can help Ruby to stay organized and keep track of important dates, administrative tasks, etc. will make it easier for her to gradually integrate baby care into household management. She is doing her best and it has been beautiful to witness her blossoming into motherhood. I wish I could stay longer, but it is time to hand over these support tasks to other family members.