Tips for creating and managing your family calendar…
Do’s:
- Have fewer kids.
Don’ts:
- Get your hopes up.
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Until next time.
…
Okay, okay. I’ll try to actually be a bit more helpful here. Now I’m not saying your family calendar looks like this (although it’s possible it does):
Or that you even have a family calendar at all, but it’s highly likely you’ve noticed things can get prettay, prettay wild in this new Dad life of yours. So much so, that there probably isn’t as much time for this:
or this:
or, heaven forbid, this, on those gorgeous fall football saturdays and sundays:
And just because your weekly to do’s include things like:
- a grocery run,
- an overnight work trip,
- creating next week’s to do list,
- a quick trip to the hardware store (because, see, what you need are masonry drill bits, not the ones you already have, in order to put up the hanging shelf on the brick walls of your garage…pure hypothetical),
- and taking the kids to their swim lesson…
……doesn’t mean you should suddenly stop enjoying your hobbies, or your “you” time.
“You” time is important. (And if you doubt me, I just googled “importance of ‘you’ time” and have pasted the first article that came up so that you know I’m taking this blog as seriously as possible: https://www.claritychi.com/importance-of-me-time/amp/)
Anyway, how do we fit it all in (that’s what she sa… nm)? Here are some tips I’ve gathered along the way that I suspect aren’t super specific to my own household and may be able to help you increase your you time while also improving on family calendar planning:
– If you don’t already have a shared calendar app going, get one. My wife and gravitate towards Google calendar because of the color coding. Because if you can keep it all in your head, a) you’ll soon realize you you can’t, or b) you are actually not a dad with a child and just reading this blog to live vicariously through those that do.
– Approach your guys trips with two things in mind: 1) how can I offer up a similar amount of child-free time to my wife such that she can get away, too (this goes a long way and is just a thoughtful way to approach life), and, 2) understand that you will not be able to go on them all, so let’s prioritize the ones that really count.
– Using the word “annual” or “tradition” in front of sought-after friend events really helps your cause when selling or pitching the above. (Even if it’s the “First Annual Non-Themed Regular Stop to the Bars That All the Guys are Going to Friday and I Really Want to Go, Too, Because I Haven’t Seen the Boys in a While.” That’s a lot more established than “are you cool if I go to the bar?” Really gives it the gravitas it most definitely doesn’t deserve but will receive anyway.
– Show some losses. If you’re gonna concede, sell the concession. “WHAT? You’re gonna make me miss Jon’s bachelor party??” “UGGGGH. Alright. FINE. Then I guess I’ll just go play golf with Tom instead.” No one likes Jon. Everyone knows this. But she doesn’t. You’re not giving up much here, and getting something in return. Show your losses!
Quick TV timeout. I realize the two ones above are a bit more … strategic in nature. Use your judgment there. I’m simply providing you with extra arrows in your quiver to ensure you get your you time in.
– Create weekly reminders for those important items you’re likely to forget, like cutting your children’s nails so they don’t scrape the crap out of themselves. Our trash comes at 7am on Wednesdays so I’m not above putting a Tuesday night weekly trash & recycling reminder on that calendar.
That’s all I’ve got for now on tips for creating and managing your family calendar. Let me know if I missed anything calendar related that you or wife use to improve your lives. Happy planning.
Anthony Guerreso