In my observation, moms of young children, particularly young breastfeeding children, spend an inordinate amount of time on their smart phones. You see, the space between when the little suckler closes their sweet eyes and when they are actually asleep enough to be layed down is perhaps the only space of time in the whole day when a mama can connect to the outside world without constant interruption. Phone calls? Nope, too loud. But text messages, Facebook, email, news - these are the golden five or ten minutes of such little luxuries.
Once the kiddo lays down for a nap, the last thing a mama wants to do is sit in front of a computer screen. During the time the kids is sleeping there are one of two options - 1) Try to get the chores done. ALL of them. 2) RELAX. Read a book. Drink the (now cold) coffee that never made it to your lips this morning.
The result of all this is that our Google Doc - ostensibly being used to organize our childcare swap, is seldom viewed and less often edited by the members of our little group. It's just too hard to do on the darn cell phone. We end up emailing each other and setting up care. This works to an extent, but doesn't suit my need for organization; nor is it compatible with my terrible short term memory. So I am searching for an alternative digital format for keeping track of who's watching who's kids when. One that would be easily viewed and edited on a cell phone. Ideas anyone?
Hi Esther! What about the Google calendar application. You can schedule the day care and invite the other mothers (daycare providers) through the participants feature and set a daily reminder that pops up and says who is watching who on that particular day. It's free, you all have Google already, and easy to set up or edit also.
ReplyDeleteNicole Hunter
Teaching Assistant for Professor Fraizer
Social Innovation, Excellence and Innovations Group
Career and Technical Studies
Great idea, thanks!
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