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My mother lives alone, so she stockpiles all kinds of chores for my hubby to do when we come over! Usually it's things like carrying something heavy up from the basement or moving furniture around. I always help with any phone/computer/tv issues. I don't mind, but DH gets annoyed with it occasionally...

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haha this is a funny thread! My MIL always has chores for my SO to do. My parents not so much, although since they are in the process of selling their home, they definitely had heavy things they wanted help moving. To clarify, not from me, from DH!

DH is handy so he usually takes a look at random things for them, or gives opinion on it. Other than that, we don't really have to do anything!

I cook every time I go over (at least once a week), and J gets asked to do things like assemble furniture, move things, and BBQ.

@Mae: This sounds like my parents!

My mom is a control freak, so she probably wouldn't appreciate any help as I would undoubtedly do it "wrong." I sometimes wash dishes if we've had a big meal but that's about it. My parents are pretty young though (mid 50s) so I wonder if that has anything to do with them not needing help?

Since my dad had his knees replaced, my husband and I now change the furnace filter every time we go visit because you have to climb onto a chair to do it. It takes 2 minutes, so we don't mind. While he was recovering from surgery we did a lot of work around the yard (mowing and trimming) because my dad couldn't but that was temporary. Otherwise we just generally help out with whatever they're doing. When they have big parties we help get everything set up, but if we're just hanging out for the weekend, then we don't usually do much. And my parents always send us home with food, so it's well worth it!

My grandmother, on the other hand, always has some electronic thing she needs help with. Some things I've just completely taken over because it's easier to do it myself than constantly show her how (like I pay our cell phone bill and buy all her Kindle books). Other things I may or may not be able to fix. And I'm the executrix of her estate and so I feel like she has updates or new things she wants to talk about every time that I see her.

I am phone tech-support for my parents and my MLIL. They all just got their first smartphones and omg, there have been a lot of questions!

But, it evens out because neither my husband nor I are handy, so we’re always calling them for advice (there’s water dripping from a light in the kitchen, what should we do?!) or asking my dad to come over help us fix something. I think my dad not-so-secretly likes it though!

I also almost always do the dishes when we go over to eat at parents/in-laws place. But none of them ask or expect me to do it, I just do it because I think I should!

My dad is on disability now so every time they need something heavy moved they call my brother who lives in town and he often just sends one of his minions over to help.

DH and I get to help with electronics but that's it. I know not to try and help or my mom will just redo it.

DH will fix things for my mom around the house or put stuff in the attic for her. He almost always gets drafted into doing some work on her car. She does tons of things for us too so it's a reciprocal relationship.

My jobs are usually bill payments/telephone calls/running errands for her - she looks after LO while I do the leg work and sneak off for some shopping/coffee while I'm at it

hubby/brother help her out with odd jobs that need fixing around the house that involve power tools.

My mom tends to hoard stuff in her fridge, so I always pull everything out and throw away everything that's past its expiration date. I do it every time we visit 1-2 times/year, and I don't understand how she keeps having salad dressings that expired in 2012. Maybe I should clean out her pantry.

Also, she never asks DH to do anything, but then after we leave she complains about all this stuff she needs done (like changing the flood lights), and when I ask why she didn't ask him to do it she rambles on about how she wanted us to enjoy our visit.