chief organizational officer or faulty mindless control freak?

Sometimes we all need a little help figuring out how to keep the axis turning.

I recently had the opportunity to review the Day Runner Family Matters system via Parentbloggers.

It's an interesting system. An erasable wall calendar, file folders and storage bins for each member of the family, a day planner and door hangers to remind yourself of what you'll probably forget.

I think it's a great idea for larger families or for families with older kids. We didn't have much use for the bins besides a general one for our family - our information is too entwined and our activities aren't seperate enough to warrant the additional storage. And the door hangers are nothing but a plaything for a toddler, so those quickly had to be relegated to a higher surface. And guess what, then they didn't get used at all. But again, that's me, not the system.

The wall calendar is terrific. Now I have a place to list each of the things going on in a week instead of merely keeping it all in my head. I've already filled it with upcoming things for the next month but again, with multiple kids I'd imagine the columns would have greater use.

It's probably safe to say our family won't get a ton of use out of this product but that isn't a reflection on the product itself, but rather a function of our still small family and one very smart (or controlling) woman who still stubbornly chooses to keep it all in her head.