16 Comments

  1. I add it all to my Outlook calendar – which lives on my computer and smartphone. Anything to do with the kids’ school (i.e. library day, hot lunch day, etc. is purple). Kids’ activities (i.e. swim lessons, Air Cadets) are some shade of blue whose name I don’t know. Kids’ appointments (i.e. dentist) are a different shade of blue.

    You’ll notice all things kid-related are in the same color family. My calendar items are pink, orange, yellow. Pat’s are green & grey. And every single item is in my calendar with a reminder set.

    I like to save my paper lists for the ‘to do’ items and grocery shopping. And even at that I still have a problem with too many lists littering my life.

  2. Yes! Paper lists are the only way to go for me! Most mornings there is a sticky note on our island of things to do or not forget to send with the kids to school. I also have a checklist on the door leading to the garage of things needed most days for sports. We have a dry erase board with a grocery list and various other things we need to buy. Sometimes the list gets funny! A Porsche has been on it along with a real lightsaber! Your list will get lighter next year because Elijah won’t have library books!

  3. So nice to read this today! I only have two kids but struggle remembering everything and almost always forget something most of the time its my own lunch. But have forgot juice box in my son’s lunch and he was mad at me for a whole evening.

    I think I need to create a list like that I try to put backpack and diaper bag right by the door but mornings are hectic with two boys that would rather snooze than get up rush and get out the door.

    It will be interesting to read what others do to make sure they stay on track!

  4. I think that is something that everyone should do. We should all have a list of things on particular days we want to accomplish or must accomplish and a daily check list for your kids is great. I think check list help with a lot of different things. It helps to develop different checklist. We have a camping trip check list that helps us make sure we have everything we need before we leave for a trip. I would suggest that everyone develop checklist for important things in their life. The check list will be different for different people. I guess the importance of a particular check list would be determined by what if something is missed. When my son was in the Army and home I had a list of things I would check to make sure he had before he left for the airport to go back to his post after leave.

    I think some of the daily things you have on your check list should be determined by what is important to your in life. It is good to make sure we are working on the things that matter most to us. Check list can help us to make sure we do.

  5. I write the important stuff like appointments and practices on a calendar that has enough room for 6 rows of boxes. Since there are 6 of us in the family, each person has their own row (There are 7 columns, 1 for each day of the week.). As for lunches, I hang up the calendar from the school that tells what the hot lunches are everyday so the kids can look every evening and see what they’re doing for lunches the next day. They always pack their lunches the night before, except for sandwiches because they get gross if they’re made the night before. If they forget their lunch box, library books or permission slips, they have to deal with the consequences. With 4 kids that’s the most I can do. The rest is up to them. I can save them sometimes if I’m subbing that particular day, depending on what they forgot.

    1. Your calendar must be huge. And I love the way you’ve put the responsibility on them. I have to admit, I haven’t done much of that with school stuff. I need to, though.

  6. I say we all start playing hardball with the kids!

    But because we all know who really gets punished when that fall through, (starts and ends with “M”) I love, depend, and rely on the list.

    I was doing wonderfully with a mini size notebook where I would date each page and write things down in pencil. Then one of the kids “borrowed” a piece of paper from it and now it is nowhere to be found. Until I can remember to get another one at the store (see, I need a list for the list!) I have been using scraps of paper and it’s not going well. Didn’t remember something very important today:(

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