As our family and business have grown, I’ve found it has become more difficult to keep Tyler and I synced as far as our calendars/needed groceries/etc. I’ve heard many wives/moms ask about this over the years so I figured I would share what has worked well for us. We’ve done a good bit of trial and error, and have finally found a system that seems to be working really well for us.
I’ll start by saying, Tyler primarily keeps up with his calendar digitally, and I am very visual and need everything written out. So, we have a combination of those two styles to keep things organized.
I’ll start with the Calendar app that comes on our iPhones. We both use Gmail Calendars that are synced into the app. My calendar is then synced with his work calendar, and anything he needs to be at for the kids is added there. Pretty simple! I have my own calendar, but can also click over so I can also pull up his week and see what all he has going on. Knowing if he will be out of town for the day, in a late meeting, etc helps me plan dinner and our evenings.
Next up, we have this trusty $10 white and gold calendar from Target pictured above (it’s on November so you’re not overwhelmed by my 5 year old boy handwriting that’s all over September and October.) This little guy is my favorite. Like I previously mentioned, I’m a very visual person and a digital calendar with everything hiding down in the days just doesn’t work for me. SO, I got this bad boy, and a magnet hook from Amazon and I stuck the calendar on our refrigerator. That way, I can see it often and it keeps me really organized with all four of our schedules. Tyler writes his important dates on it – such as if he is out of town overnight, but it doesn’t have his entire work calendar on it. If I need to see that, I go to the Apple Calendar app. (**Let me help a sister out and go ahead and tell you this little guy is NOT in Target stores — at least not in the Jackson area. You have to order it online. So for the love of all things Target, do not go there hoping to find this little gem and as a result spend a million dollars on other things you didn’t even know you needed. BUT it can arrive on your doorstep.)
Lastly, we really love Google Keep. I make tons of lists in this app (individualized packing lists if we’re going out of town, to do lists, reminder lists, etc) and then Tyler and I also have synced lists that we can both edit from our individual phones. This works great for grocery lists, honey-do lists, needed errands, etc. This has been SUPER helpful for us. For example, I often think of things I need Tyler to do during the day while I’m at home. Instead of sending him messages about it while he’s in meetings, I drop it in our mutual list for him to see later when he has time to check the app. We also have a grocery list that’s been really helpful and functional for us. We both add and check off stuff, and anytime one of us pops in the store, we check the list to see if there are other things that need to be purchased. *You have to activate the checklist system in the app, and I highly recommend you do that in order to maximize the functionality of it!
That’s the rundown on what’s working for us right now. If you have apps or systems that work for your family, I’d love to hear them!