Welcome to the momAgenda blog. If you are reading this, it is likely that you are an overworked, underappreciated, totally stressed out mom to young children. Nice to meet you-we already have a lot in common.
In fact, we’re probably more alike than you think. Contrary to popular belief, I am not by nature one of those Alpha Moms, the kind with color-coordinated pet sweaters and pearls constantly in place. Rather, being flakier than the leading breakfast cereal, I was the type to regularly forget doctor’s appointments, play dates, and book club meetings (you can imagine how popular this made me on the playground). But the turning point came when I even started forgetting to make school lunches for my children. I needed a surefire way to plan those pastrami sandwiches into the day; I just didn’t know what it was.
A day planner seemed like an obvious answer; after all, I had relied on them to plan my schedule in my former lifetime as a professional woman. But after perusing my local selection of day planners, I had the disturbing realization that’s exactly who the majority of day planners are designed for: for professionals, not mothers of rapidly multiplying children.
So where did I finally find inspiration for my very own day planner for moms? As a mother of four, I found it in the place where I clocked in the most frequent visitor miles: my beloved OBGYN’s office. (Don’t worry, I promise to keep this PG!) After glimpsing the mammoth, multi-scheduled planners the doctors used to plan their busy days, I was smitten by the planner’s utilitarian format: on each page there was a column for each doctor so the receptionist could manage a group practice more easily. That’s when it hit me: moms are practically doctors and certainly just as busy. We needed a multi-schedule planner of our own!
With this idea germinating, I hurried over to check out the only day planners I knew of at the time: the atrocious $5.99 variety at Staples office supply. What I found confirmed my suspicions: the only day planner that mirrored the kind needed for mothers was the day-on-a-page doctor’s office scheduler. Clutching that giant manuscript of a planner, I’d finally found a day planner that was practical, but it sure wasn’t pretty. Still, I scurried home to put my new planner to work.
First, I wrote a child’s name at the top of each of the columns on each of the pages, and then I started writing in appointments. And guess what: It worked! Having my kids’ schedules separated from each other in this way finally helped me to stay organized.
Unfortunately, there were two major problems with my ingenious new system. First, the day planner was gigantic. I mean, I really could not take it anywhere; it weighed almost as much as my fourth child. The second problem was it was UGLY. I have mentioned in the past that I am obsessed with shoes and bags (for the obvious reason that they always fit no matter what I ate the night before) and I could never be seen in public carrying this vinyl-covered monstrosity. As a modern mama, I wanted a day planner for moms that helped manage multiple schedules, but was still stylish and compact. That was it – the genesis of momAgenda.
Here I am, 2 years later telling you this story. And I have to tell you, the momAgenda is really working for me! I have not forgotten my kids’ school lunch in ages.
Stay tuned for more tales from the underbelly of momAgenda (no pun intended…I think).