Anonymous wrote:If it's really hard, they have too many activities. Family time is more important btw.
Why does every question on this board generate a judgmental response?
I would note first that OP said activities and appointments, as the parent of a child with a heart condition who sees specialists quite frequently keeping track of appointments is complicated even if none of my children did a single extra curricular activity.
Second, a complex set of activities and plenty of family time are not mutually exclusive and sometimes keeping close track of schedules enables you to build in more of what your family needs. For example, I stagger my kids activities in what seems like a crazy manner but it enables me to get natural one on one time with each kid that we all really enjoy, something which is particularly challenging in my family due to the medical needs of my child who is a heart patient.
For OP, I fine Google calendar with reminders easiest for this because I can integrate it with my work schedule and avoid scheduling a meeting and a kid activity at the same time. We also have a paper calendar on the wall to help my kids follow along.