There's Just Not An App For That

My most frequently fielded question is .... why do I need a "paper based" handbook system for my family when my technology works just great for me?

The simple answer is there just isn't the technology available to provide your family with an easy to understand guide to how your household operates. Our lives as moms are much more complex than our i-phones, pc's and our information straddles the "electronic" and "paper based" platforms.

NOT SHAREABLE
There are many reasons, but the biggest reason is that technology is not a universally "shareable" device. Our PC's & personal devices do not give us a "clear voice" and they do not clearly interpret our intentions for our family.

My i-phone is meant for me only. I store information at a moment's notice (generally on the fly in the carpool line) and contact fields are most likely not used to their full capacity. I can't tell you if the "phone number" for my doctor is in the doctor's proper "work #" field - it may just as easily be stored in the email line because that is where my cursor landed at the time. I really can't even ensure that my doctor's name is spelled correctly in my i-phone - so my husband may not be able to find it in my device if he tried.

NOT EASILY INTERPRETED
Now - assuming my i-phone contacts were in pristine condition and every contact was labeled correctly. If I was in a medical emergency, my husband would not be able to know who was responsible for running carpool that day, unless he looked at my carpool schedule (in my daily routine tab). He also wouldn't know the bus number for my son (in the Myers Park traditional tab).

NOT WORTHY OF MY DEVICE
The even bigger reason is that the majority of this information is not worthy of my i-phone. I want (and NEED) to be able to look up the email address of the assistant preschool registrar, but I don't necessarily need her information in my i-phone. I also NEED to know the emergency contacts for the children in my carpools, but I will never logically remember how to look up Grandma Myrtle (of no relation to me) in my cell phone if I need her in a pinch. I need her information in a list with all of the other information for my carpool crew.

I bet that one day there WILL be an app for this. I would love to develop it! But until babysitters, caregivers, schools, doctors, summer camps, service providers and everyone else goes 100% paperless ~ us mom's are going to need our handbooks.