Write down how their house actually works
Which tap drips, where the stopcock is, who fixes the boiler. One page, on the fridge, for whoever needs it next.
Not rated yet
The BeingKind editorsPublished How this is written
Why it lands
Every house holds knowledge that lives in one person's head: the fuse board is in the cupboard, the plumber is called Dave, the back door needs lifting. When that person has a fall or a hospital stay, the family discovers all of it at once and under pressure, usually by phone from another city. Writing it down while it is calm converts an emergency into an inconvenience, and doing it together turns it from a morbid task into an ordinary one.
How
Sit with them and write it as they tell you: utilities and account numbers, who they call for what, where the meters and stopcock are, which neighbor has a key. One page. Print two — one for the fridge, one for whoever lives furthest away.
Answer if you want. It changes which ideas are shown first.
This is part of
A written list of what else helps in the same situation.
Related
Plan someone's first week, not their first day
Onboarding is concentrated in day one, which is the day nobody retains anything.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Talk to the one who married in
Every family gathering has somebody who knows none of the stories, and everybody is assuming somebody else is talking to them.
Half an hourFreeA relative
Refill the one thing you keep rebuying
Pick a single household item and stop buying new packaging for it. One item, permanently, beats a good fortnight.
Half an hourUnder $10The planet
Read the form out loud for someone
Around one in six adults reads below the level most official forms are written at.
Half an hourFreeA neighbor1 person did this
Do the chore they hate, and never mention it
Every household has one job somebody dreads. Doing it silently is worth more than doing it and collecting the credit.
Half an hourFreeSomeone you live with