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I don’t know about you, but if it weren’t for my phone, I would be in big trouble. The primary reason that I need my phone is for my schedule. With so many things going on with my family from picking up kids from dance, soccer practice and many other things, my phone really helps to keep everything in line.

There are a few options out there to have a shared calendar and yes, one of them include writing everything down in a planner. I prefer to let my technology work for me! The shared calendar that my wife and I use is the apple iCal that can be found by clicking the little calendar button on your phone. You can also use the calendar that gmail offers, but if you are a mac person like me and have an iPhone and any other iDevices, the iCal is for you.

How Our Family Uses iCal:

  • to create individual colors for each member of your family (even the kids)
  • to set reminders for yourself to do important things (like pick up the kids)
  • to invite other family members to your event so it is put on their calendar (like when Grandma picks them up)
  • to add special notes to your or your family so they have directions or other special notes

Additional Great Features On Apple Devices For Families:

  • Do your kids ask for new games all the time like mine do? Setup their device to ask you to download before they get it. You will have to approve it on your phone first!
  • Set restrictions on your child’s device.
  • Have a personal computer that the entire family uses for homework time? Make sure you have restrictions on that too!

My wife and I have a weekly meeting. We learned about the importance of having a weekly meeting once we had our second child. During that weekly meeting we talk about what is going on for the week…who is picking up which kid, what nights we need a babysitter for and of course when I am going to get my workouts in! The best part about iCal is that it syncs across all your devices. So your iPhone, iPad, computer and of course the internet. You can share an iCloud email and install that email and the calendar on your phone and be good to go. If my wife calls me and asks me if she can have a girls night next week, I can simply ask her “what’s the night look like?” and she will tell me that it is clear and I can approve and she can put it right in the calendar for us both to see.

I know this might seem totally obvious, but some families don’t believe that running your family should be like this. They might think that things just happen or might judge others for being too type “A.” I feel like a loving, fully communicative family, is run like a business. A  well-oiled machine that really puts in some great work. If you are able to do that by using this calendar app, then you can have more time for fun together as a family unit…and that is what we all want! Have a great week and keep going that extra mile for your family!

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