Keeping 2 households organized using Google Calendar and Google Keep

As most know we have a blended family, Ralph has 2 teenage daughters and I have 2 very active boys. He has a home in Chesapeake, and I have a home in Virginia Beach. Some days we have all the kids, some days we have just his kids, some days we have just my boys, and occasionally it is just the 2 of us.

It takes a lot to keep 2 households running, 4 kids going to school in 2 different cities, 2 exes to also coordinate scheduling with, activities, meal planning, and to top it all off planning a relocation in a few months. It will never always go as planned but we can try our best to communicate and stay organized between everyone.

I have found that using Google Calendar and Google Keep has helped so much! I use Google Calendar to have a calendar for the kids schedule – one for my kids and one for his kids and color code them. I then share this with their dad, step mother, Ralph and his ex-wife. You can view/edit dates on mobile or desktop.

Google Keep to keep track of things to do, shopping lists and menu planning. This is my most difficult task with managing 2 homes and menu planning. We can’t always have everything perfect but if we sit down every Sunday with a game plan for the week then things can run more smoothly than just winging it.

This is where all the “teamwork” is very important for us! If I can’t get everything done at one house, I keep a running to do list and Ralph can easily know where I left off and continue the list going.

Someday things will be easier, so for now we just have to manage the best we can and continue to ask for patience from all of our kids as we are figuring things out.

Thankfully we have Verizon FiOS at home for the fast and reliable internet and Verizon Mobile to keep our communication open on the go! Group texting is a must for us!