Trash day comes back every week, whether or not anyone in the house has slept. That is why the bins deserve a decision instead of a habit. You can roll them out yourself, pay someone to do it, or ask a neighbor. Each option costs a different amount of your time, and only you can count that.
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.
Walk the route before you count the work
Stand at the back door and walk to the curb the way a bin would travel. Count the steps, note any slope, the gate latch, the cracked section of walk, and what the surface does in ice or rain. Then lift the parent's bin and the recycling bin with the usual load and notice how far you can carry each. A route that is fine on a dry morning can become a two-person job after a storm, so write down what the bad-weather version looks like.
Get the pickup calendar in writing
Ask the city or the hauler which day the pickup happens, whether holiday weeks move the day, what hour the bins must be at the curb, and when they must come back in. Ask whether a missed pickup gets a second pass and how to report one. If the answer is only a phone number, ask them to send the schedule by mail or email so the rule is on paper.
Compare the three ways
Doing it yourself costs a fixed slice of time every week and needs nobody's permission. Paying someone costs money and needs a written scope: which bins, which door, whether they bring the bins back, whether they need a key or gate code, and what happens when they cannot come. Asking a neighbor costs a favor, and favors end. Put a name next to each option, then ask what happens in the week you are sick or away. If the answer is nobody, the neighbor is not a plan yet.
Questions to ask a paid service
Ask whether the company is insured for work on the property, whether the same person comes each time, how they handle a gate or a locked side yard, and how you will know the job was done. Ask for the cancellation notice in writing. Ask whether a holiday change is billed or included. Keep a copy of the signed scope with the parent's other paperwork.
Permission to hand it off
You are allowed to pay someone to roll the bins out. Handing off a weekly job is not a failure of care. It is a schedule decision, and it counts as one even when no one thanks you for it. If the rest of the week already feels impossible, start with the Start Here page and come back to the bins after the bigger decisions are made.