Somewhere right now there is a key to your mom's house that you have forgotten about. It might be on a hook in your kitchen, in the glove box, in a neighbor's junk drawer, or on a ring that also holds a bottle opener from a restaurant that closed. You will not find it until the afternoon you need it, and you will be standing on the porch with a bag of groceries and a kid asking if they can go in.
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This is a maintenance job. Like the other jobs on this desk, it runs better when one person owns it on purpose.
Start with a count, not a memory
Sit down with a plain sheet of paper and write every key you can think of. Then go find the ones you could not think of. Check the kitchen drawer, the car, your purse, the spare hook by the back door, the tackle box in the garage, and the bag your mom keeps for the plumber. For each key, write down what it opens. A front door, a back door, a storm door, a side door to the garage, a shed, a mailbox, a gate. Some of these you will not have guessed.
For each copy, write three things: where it is right now, who has it, and whether that person lives close enough to hand it over in ten minutes.
Name the holder of each copy
A copy with no holder is just a copy somebody might lose. Give every key one owner. That person is the one you call when the door sticks, and the one who arranges a replacement when a key goes missing. It can be you, your mom, a neighbor, or a person who comes in for the afternoon. The name matters more than who the person is.
Ask a few questions about each holder. Are they home on a weekday afternoon? Do they know the alarm code, if there is one, and the trick to the back door that sticks? Would they say no to a stranger who calls asking to be let in? Do they have your phone number saved well enough to answer when you call from the car?
Decide who gets the lockout call
Sooner or later, most people get locked out, and it usually happens at the worst possible time. Decide now who you call first, who is second, and whether you are willing to pay a locksmith if neither of them answers. Write the two names on the same sheet as the key list and keep that sheet where everyone who needs it can find it. Do not save the number of a locksmith you have never called. Before you need one, check that the company is licensed and insured where you live, and ask what the visit includes before anyone comes out.
Find the copies that should not exist
Look for keys you cannot match to a door. An old key may open a shed you no longer use, a gate that has been replaced, or a side door that now has a new lock. Keys you cannot identify are a quiet risk. Do not hand them to anyone, and do not throw them out until you have tried each one on the doors you think it might fit. Keep the unknowns in one labeled bag, and write on the bag who checked them and what they were tested against.
Put the key list where the calendar lives
Your calendar and your key list do the same job. Both assume someone can do the thing when the time comes. Keep a copy of the key list in the shared calendar notes, or on the fridge at your mom's, whichever one actually gets opened. If you are running the split week, the list belongs on the side of the week that the other person can see. The Kids' Week and Mom's Week pages explain how the two rows fit together, and the key list should sit beside them.
What to check before anyone new gets a key
If a helper is coming in for the afternoon window, decide before the first visit whether they will have a key or whether someone will let them in. Either choice works. Pick one and write it down. Then ask the person to repeat back which door the key opens, when they would use it, and who to call if it does not turn. Ask them to tell you right away if they lose it, and to return it when the job ends. Keep a note of every key you hand out, so you always know how many are out in the world.
When to stop and call a professional
If a lock is failing, a key keeps snapping, or you suspect a copy is out that you did not give anyone, stop doing it yourself. Call a locksmith or the company that installed the lock. Ask them to show you what they plan to change before they start, and ask how many working keys you will have when they finish.
The goal is not a perfect key system. The goal is that on the afternoon you need a door open, you already know whose phone to call.