When I was in a local chapter of The Mom’s Club I was introduced to something pretty wonderful at one of our officer meetings.
Another one of the moms brought her “family binder” with her and inside was pretty much everything she needed to keep her kids’ school and extracurricular activities organized. I was in awe.
At that moment I realized I needed one too so I went home and decided to create my own. After taking one last look at the unorganized pile of papers on the desk in our kitchen I was so happy to finally have a solution!
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I hit up the local office supply store the very next day for the other items I needed to complete the binder.
Family Binder – Organizing Work and Family Calendars
Here are some 3 tips for finding your way to an organized family binder.
Digital Family Binder Calendar Options
Google calendars is just one online option. Many people love it because you can add users, sync it to your phone and other devices, and have more than one all in the same spot. The school where I teach uses Google Calendars for EVERYTHING, but it’s not my favorite for our family calendar or for my editorial calendar.
My family uses Cozi. Like, Google Calendars, it can have multiple users, but unlike GC it also offers To Do Lists, shopping lists, meal planning, etc. I think it’s easier to read (in other words, it most resembles paper) than GC.
We use Cozi to keep all appointments, dates, etc that everyone should be aware of. Cozi has become the new wall calendar. I don’t put any of my own deadlines or work-related items in the Cozi unless it somehow affects the rest of the family (re: I won’t be home) for dinner).
Plus it has a nifty phone app that is extremely user-friendly.
Paper Family Binder Options
I have probably tried every single paper calendar/planner known to man…or at least the ones available at Office Max and Target. I’ve even tried to make my own.
I am very particular about my planner since I like to have space for regular calendar things, but also for deadlines, To-Dos, and homework due dates.
Each of my kids has their own tab and everything we need is in there and easily found – class instructions and calendars, school or team rosters, even passwords for online educational sites.
If it is something you know you will need to look at repeatedly it is great to put it inside a sheet protector so it does not easily tear or get marked up.
In the pockets, I stash drawings or other keepsake items from the year and on the top of the binder, in the view pocket, I also put some “art” from school that makes me smile.
Family Binder – Organizing Work And Family Calendars – Conclusion
This simple family binder has made my life a lot easier when it comes to finding things we need for pretty much anything the kids have going on.
I would also say that you could add a tab for yourself and include things that you might need for your own activities, as well as reminders or medical paperwork, tax paperwork, etc.
The sky’s the limit really for getting organized in your own family binder!
Read more: How To Balance Work And Family Life
I use Cozi with my ex-husband to make sure we’re both up to speed on the kids’ activities. I like that you can select which family members are participating in each family event, and the fact that you can send messages in there, too. I absolutely love it.
YES! I love that too! And you can set up reminders. We get reminders on our phones which works so slick!
We are the same! Digital for husband, Paper for wife.
The only difference? It’s word of mouth for joint family engagements. 🙂
We have to use the digital for joint…we don’t argue about much, but forgetting if we told the other about things…such a point of contention.
We don’t have a system in place as such as a couple. I use a my Erin Condren planner for my editorial/ writing/ consulting stuff. I have a whiteboard on my desk for the kids’ things, which he can see at a glance. He pretty much just tells me what’s going on with him, and I keep it in my head 🙂 I do have a Google Calendar for everything else though – birthdays, events, etc.
For now, things work for us because the kids don’t have that many activities, and I’m basically the family calendar keeper.
I love that YOU are the calendar, Alison!