I'm kinda nuts when it comes to the calendar I use.
"Nuts" in that I spend more time than I should looking at what is available, comparing features and sometimes even making charts comparing the size of the calendars and size of the grids.
2011 will be the tenth year we will use the More Time Moms Family Organizer. And while I am a loyal customer, I am most interested in getting the best calendar for us. I look to see what is available before I buy.
I love this calendar for these reasons:
It is big...
Closed, it is 11 inches long by 15 inches wide. Closed means that you would be seeing half of the calendar: either the first half of the month or the second half of the month. This is for those of you who only have about 11 inches by 15 inches to spare for it.
Opened up to the whole month, it is 22 inches long by 15 inches wide. This is the way we use it.
It has great paper...
The paper is strong, takes heavy writing (pencil and pen; felt pens might bleed through), highlighting and erasing and in nine years I have never had a page tear or come loose from the spiral binding.
The squares are perfect...
They are 2 inches by 3 3/4 inches. They have faint lines to keep your writing straight. The lines help me visually divide the squares up so I can put morning things near the top, afternoon things in the middle and evening things close to the bottom. The lines could just as easily be ignored. The lines dividing the squares are strong. Holidays and moon phases are noted.
I like the illustrations...
They are family-oriented, but not too cutesy. Some months the primary illustration is in color, other months, black and white (for children to illustrate). There will usually be another one or two small illustrations on the pages and these are in color. Visually, I really like how this calendar looks.
Additional room for notes and things...
Each monthly spread also contains other spaces for writing reminders: Kids' Chores, Reminders and then perhaps another space for Back to School, Gardening or Vacation Plans. You can use these as suggested, or change the title and use them in other ways. You will also get the previous and next months' at-a-glace calendar and a space called: "Schedule time for important things: Yourself: exercise, fresh air, reading hobbies, church, etc. Your partner, family, friends, relatives and community." And there will be a thoughtful quote, often new to me.
Stickers...
260 (and you can order more from the More Time Moms website). Some years I use them a lot, other years I might just use the birthday, anniversary, doctors' appointments and important stickers. The sticker sheet is bound into the calendar, so you won't lose it.
Heavy-duty pocket...
The inside back cover of the calendar contains a heavy-duty pocket (mine has never torn). I use the pocket for a few papers, but what I like to do is hang a clip board under the calendar with copies of school schedules, school calendars, sports schedules and so on. I put all the dates on the calendar, which is referred to daily, sometimes many times a day, but the clip board contains the originals if I need more information. I have created a document with the names, phone numbers and addresses of our doctors and dentist and I keep that in the pocket.
Also printed on the inside back cover is the whole next year's calendar and January's calendar (it is the same as the monthly spread, but smaller, of course).
More writing space...
On the back of the December page is more space for writing. There are grids there for Emergency Numbers, Medical Card Numbers, Kids' phone numbers, Everyone else's phone numbers and a blank for your use.
Charity donation...
5% of profits are donated to children's charities in developing countries. I love this.
She listens to customer feedback...
This is the 15th year this calendar has been available. Joanne, the creator of the calendar, listens to customers' feedback and makes small changes based on that. The basic format and features have remained the same.
A couple of other notes:
Our family life is busy now. Someday, I'll have time to go back and review what we've done and organize photos and scrapbooks. I keep our calendars for this reason. I've tried to remember to write things like who has Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with us, specifics about where we go on vacation and so on for these reasons.
Sometimes I want to mark a series of days, for example, my husband's vacation days, or the days of Lent or Advent. I use crayons to do this. I just outline the time period with a crayon and then lightly color in the squares. Other times I will just use a long line to indicate something that goes from Monday through Friday (a week-long camp, for example).
This is the calendar that Flylady used before she made her own. I think this one is better because of the size, layout and visually I prefer this one.
I notice that Amy Knapp has a big wall calendar available now.
I love Amy Knapp's Family Organizer, a portable planner. I was surprised and disappointed to see that Amy Knapp's wall calendar is virtually the same design as the More Time Moms calendar. Granted, there aren't that many different ways to organize a wall calendar, but it just seems too similar. I want to give my business to the originator (as long as it is still a great product and it is!).
Paying a little more for a product that I so fully rely on and use daily is worth it to me. The amazon price seems high, but does includes free shipping... I would pay more for this calendar if I had to!
