It’s hard to find just the right calendar for tracking the activities of the entire family. I went through several versions before hitting on a simple solution that works for us. Lots of articles have been written on this topic, and I’ve read many of them in the quest for the holy grail of calendars. When my children were small, I kept everything on my personal calendar. That system stopped working for us when I returned to a full-time demanding job after four years of working part-time. I hired a sitter to pick up my girls at school and take them to after-school activities. Both my husband and our sitter needed easy access to the calendar.
First I tried using a white board with assigned colors for each family member. Although that seems to work for a lot of families, it didn’t work for us. I think it might be a better solution for larger families or for families with older children. I also tried a smaller, one-week white board calendar that magnetically attached to the refrigerator. At first I thought this was the ticket, but it was hard to clean and the entries were easily smudged every time we opened the refrigerator door.
I looked at bulletin boards and chalkboards. I even considered chalkboard wall paint (chalk is way too dusty). But in the end, as with most things in my life, I decided less is more. I found our perfect low tech solution on the website www.poketo.com – the “Desk It” weekly post-it note calendar.
The “Desk It” Weekly Calendar
This simple and inexpensive solution met all my needs. I still maintain my combined work and personal calendar on my computer/phone. But every Sunday, I meticulously fill out our weekly post-it note calendar in pencil. I include my husband’s work schedule (which can be fluid), the girls’ lunches (buying or bringing), PE days (they wear different uniforms on PE days), appointments, lessons, activities, notes about who is picking up at school on which days, and any other necessary reminders. Our weekly post-it note calendar is displayed on a magnetic board in our pantry.
The Family Calendar
It is simple, low tech, and it works to keep us organized. How about you? Have you found a calendar that works for your family?
