Every family with a parent at home has a driveway problem nobody puts on the agenda. The aide pulls in at nine, your brother's car is behind her, and the grocery delivery has to stop somewhere. Nobody meant to block anyone. The drive is just the wrong size for the crew you now have. Measure it before the next visit makes the point for you.
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Count the cars on a normal week
Start with the calendar, not the driveway. Write down every vehicle that stops at the house in a regular week: any paid help, each sibling or relative who visits, the errand runs, the delivery drop-offs, and your own car when you come by. Mark the days and times when two or three of them overlap. That overlap is the number you have to fit. A drive that holds two cars works for most weeks and fails every Tuesday afternoon, and you only see that if you count the overlap.
Measure the turnaround
Stand at the garage or the car pad and check whether a car can back out and turn without using the lawn or the street on the other side of it. Use a tape. Note the width of the pad, the distance from the garage door to the edge of the drive, and whether the apron slopes enough that a parked car creeps. If one car has to leave before another can, write that order down. You will need it for the rule below.
Check the walk from car to door
A spot close to the house is only useful if the walk to the door is usable. Mom's walker or wheelchair needs a flat, clear path at least as wide as the chair, with room to turn at the top. Look for a lip where the drive meets the walk, a step at the door, leaves or ice that collect in a low corner, and a gate that swings into the path. Note every place the crew has to carry something up or down. Those spots turn a short visit into a hazard, and they belong on the list next to the parking spaces.
Write the blocked-in rule
Most of the friction comes from one thing: someone parks where another person needs to leave, and the argument starts in the driveway. Decide the rule before it happens. Pick one of three simple versions: the car that arrived last leaves first, the car that is blocking gets moved by the person who parked it, or one named key holder is called to move any car that is stuck. Whichever you pick, put a phone number on the page so nobody has to guess who answers when a car is stuck.
Name who owns the spots
Each space should have a name beside it: the aide's spot, the sibling spot, the delivery spot, and the spot you keep open for emergencies. A spot without a name becomes everyone's, and then nobody's. Ask whether the aide has a standing time and whether she can use the street, a drop-off spot close to the walk, or a neighbor's approved space. Be fair about the labor here, too. The person who ends up moving cars every afternoon is usually the one already doing the most, so put her name on the rule, not only the rule's effect. If the drive is shared with a neighbor or governed by a landlord or an association, check the written rules before you mark a space, because a painted line that conflicts with them is the kind of thing you fix once and regret twice.
Check it against the next busy day
Run the test on an afternoon when the crew overlaps. Watch each car in and out, time the turnaround, and see whether the walk stays clear. Then update the page. Change the rule if one part failed, and move a spot if the turnaround does not work. Write a review date on the list so the next person who has to move a car knows the plan is current.