Colourful Calendar

Our colour coded Microsoft word calendar that is updated and printed is the hub of our family.  Seriously it is one of the things that keeps me inches from insanity.  I have a copy on the fridge as well as one hanging on my wall at work.  That is my little grasp at organization and control in a somewhat chaotic and confusing family life.  Each family member has a colour.  No more kids as we are out of colours on the calendar :)

Working full time I have found that preparation is the key to getting through the weeks and the calendar helps.  Each night I look ahead at the following day and following week.  I get paperwork lined up, laundry prepped, garbage to the curb.  Kids lunches made or notes wrote for teachers.  Sometimes I think it would be so nice to have a calendar with nothing but the numbers on each date and not jam packed with activities and notes in several different colours.  Then I think about how different life would be without those colours.  I like my colourful life.  
The boys are three different shades of blue, Tay is pink, McKinley purple, I am orange.  The really important stuff is in red and visitation/weekday access information is in green.  This calendar tells me at a glance where someone is and when they have to be picked up.  It tells me where my husband is when he is on one of his several out of town trips for work.  It also tells me birthdays, anniversaries and important field trips.  It has our scheduled dentist appointments, hair appointments and all the extracurricular activities. 
I was thinking I have years of past calendars that started out as two basic colours (one for me and one for the kids) and through the years the calendars have evolved.  They are filled in with more events now and record our life moments.  If I was one of those truly organized women I would have the kids baby books filled out with these events and all the information. I'm not so I think I will settle for a colour coded calendar that stores our memories. 
I looked back to last year's calendar for April and my Dad stayed with us for a few days with his heart procedure and he helped me choose the right dishwasher repairman.  Austin underwent several appointments for ADD testing and assessment with a psychologist to ensure his medication was working correctly.  We put an offer on our new home, celebrated my Grandpa's birthday with family. 
Im glad I have these calendars cause while they are just little bits of information they help me remember the memories that go along with those colourful notes.