Here’s how we stay organized as a family of 5 with two full time working parents. We have an au pair, who helps manage the day-to-day activities and this is what works for us. It requires a lot of planning but this really helps everyone stay on top of what’s happening and who should be where/when.
We use a combination of a few things, old school hand written calendar and google calendar.
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AT HOME
We have a huge board in our kitchen. This is something I got years ago at a thrift shop, but any corkboard would work. I painted the back black and frame white. Here’s how we organize the board:
- WEEKLY ACTIVITIES
- across the top of the board are the activities that repeat each week. This should be activities that are set to go for a long period of time.
- Examples: soccer, gymnastics, etc.
- Our stickers are from etsy, links are all below!
- across the top of the board are the activities that repeat each week. This should be activities that are set to go for a long period of time.
- MONTHLY CALENDAR
- we use a paper calendar here, mapping out additional activities that will happen in a particular month
- Examples: doctor appts, playdates, days off school, early release days
- I like the paper calendar here (vs whiteboard), because I can get started on the next month early, which I keep behind it or in a cabinet
- Our calendar is a blotter from paper source, links are below!
- we use a paper calendar here, mapping out additional activities that will happen in a particular month
- ADDITIONAL NOTES
- since this is a corkboard, we can pin papers from school, notes from teachers, etc.
- use post-its to add weekly activities that will occur for a shorter period of time so they can be removed easily
- chores charts are up here too so the girls can check off their daily chores. These are laminated. Laminator we use is linked below.
DIGITAL
- we share a Google calendar
- FAMILY- me and Joe share a calendar with our family activities that don’t involve our au pair (weekend plans, nights out, family parties)
- AU PAIR- me, Joe, and our au pair share a calendar with everything from our weekly and monthly family calendar repeated. Its important to share everything here so that we all know what’s happening and when to be where. We also put the hours that our au pair will be working on here.
- If you need help setting up google calendar, click here for a tutorial!
