Digital Family Calendars?

[keyslover]

Anyone have one?

Are they worth it?

Right now, DH and I use our phones for a shared calendar. Familywise, I just use a whiteboard for the week with things that we and the kids need to know.

It doesn't include chores or other things like some of these calendars offer.  But, it is cheap and no monthly fees unless my Expo markers run out!

[preppy]

We bought a skylight calendar in September and it’s been a game changer. We have a lot of youth sports scheduled, I travel for work and DH has a very variable work schedule and it’s just so beyond helpful. I also love and use the lists features for everything - grocery list, to do list, etc. I love that anyone can add to the list either using the app or the tablet in the kitchen any you can check thjngs off as you shop. It also syncs with Google so my flights auto sync without me having to add them with details like time, flight # etc so DH has that if he ever needs it. I love it.

[DotAndBuzz]

We have a shared google calendar. This year we linked both the girls in with their google accounts, so when they want to schedule something for school/babysitting/whatever, they can look to see if there are any conflicts. It's been fairly seamless, and has helped them manage their time much better. Also like that they aren't asking me so much to be the "manager." They look, confirm with me that it's open, and book. My oldest has mostly stopped asking, and is now just telling me "I signed up to volunteer on XYZ dates, it's on the calendar."

LOVE IT.

[countthestars]

We love our skylight! My kids have their chores on there, and our schedule. Everyone can check it to see the plan for the day and what they need to do.

[redhead610]

We love our skylight! We've had it for 2 years I think. It works perfectly for our needs. I never remembered to update our old whiteboard calendar when a meeting or practice time changed. Now, we change it on our phones and it automatically updates!

[sporklemotion]

We have a Skylight. DD2 loves being able to see what is going on and adding things to the shopping list.
I got it because I was sick of being the keeper of the calendar and having DH ask me repeatedly what the schedule was.
I wish I could say that he checks it more, but he doesn’t. But DD2 and I will remind him of it and she can now remind him of things.
I like being able to make changes on my calendar and having them sync there.


I will say that paper/whiteboard didn’t work for me and DH doesn’t keep his work calendar on his phone. Syncing via phones wasn’t going to work for us, but that may be a cheaper and easier option.

Our Skylight was a one time purchase— I don’t pay a monthly fee for it. It wasn’t cheap, but it was worth it to us for the ease of use and display.

[cereal K]

We use iCloud calendars. H and DD both have them on their phones. DS is still a little young for independent scheduling, but he has it on his iPad, too.

We’re big Echo/Alexa users, and have an Echo Show 15 in the kitchen. All the family calendars are shown in the widget, and the day can be expanded by touch or by voice. The kids could add things to the calendar by voice, if that was a thing that occurred to them.

I like the multi-functionality of the Show 15, and that it connects with other devices. I also like the ease of use of the iCloud calendars, since we all have Apple phones/devices.

[sdlaura]

We have the shared phone calendar and weekly whiteboard on the fridge and that works well for us.

[lucky3]

Another vote for the Skylight calendar. My kids use the chore chart to get ready for school in the morning and everyone uses the calendar.

[staceymcgill]

We use the Cozi app and love it.

[bex1973]

Mar 6, 2024 11:33:42 GMT -5 staceymcgill said:

We use the Cozi app and love it.

Same. We don't use the calendar as much as we could/should but we heavily use the lists feature. We have a list set up for our regular stores, a shared to do list and then a few standing lists like vacation packing, gift ideas etc.

[glitzy07]

lucky3, sporklemotion, redhead610, preppy, countthestars,

Can I tag in and ask Skylight specific questions here?

Which size do you have? If you already have multiple Google Calendars for the family, can you integrate all of them? For example I have one for me, one for each kid, and I also follow their SportsEngine schedules in Google. Can those all show up with the color coding on Skylight?

How do you like the chore/meal planning function? Do you find it gets used in your house?

Thanks!

[countthestars]

We have a 15"

I'm not sure about integrating the multiple calendars - I keep one calendar that I call "Family calendar" and I can color code by person in there and it shows up on our skylight. We use ours for chores and it helps, although DS does still need to be reminded about checking it (which I prefer vs. reminding him about each individual chore).

[staceymcgill]

Mar 6, 2024 12:03:23 GMT -5 bex1973 said:

Mar 6, 2024 11:33:42 GMT -5 staceymcgill said:

We use the Cozi app and love it.

Same. We don't use the calendar as much as we could/should but we heavily use the lists feature. We have a list set up for our regular stores, a shared to do list and then a few standing lists like vacation packing, gift ideas etc.

I need to start using lists more. We use it primarily for calendar.

[namasteak]

We have used cozi for years and about 6 months ago got a skylight to use as well. I love that everyone is color coded which makes it easier for the kids to manage their schedules and the chore list function.

Happy to answer any questions!

[keyslover]

For those intersted in the Skylight- the 15 inch is now at Costco for $279.99 and includes 1 Year of the Plus Subscription.

Not sure if it is a great deal, but it is something!

[twinmomma]

We have multiple Google calendars synced to our Skylight. We love it! It shows the custody calendar for my kids, the custody calendar for my stepson, activities for the kids, etc. all on separate Google calendars that sync up to the Skylight. They love that they can check things themselves.

The kids like the chores checklists, especially DD2 who has ADHD. It helps her stay on track with what she's got on her to do list.

We don't use the meal planning piece at all, but it's totally worth it for the rest of the features for us.

No paid plan here, I think that just allowed syncing photos for a digital frame feature and I didn't care about that at all.

[CloudBee]

We have tried, but always fall back on the old school paper calendar on our fridge.

[indianchica]

We use the cozi app. When a child has a new event, they have to put it on or it just will not happen.