Life in a House of Testosterone is pleased to bring our readers a back to school featured guest post from Nikki Sacks, Co-Founder of PodKeeper and full-time working mom of 2 energetic boys.
Back to school evokes different feelings for everyone. Some love the prospect of getting back to a schedule. Some miss the care-free feelings associated with summer. Some are excited about new classes, teams and activities. Some dread the hectic nature of it all. Wherever you fall on this range of emotions, one thing that is universal is the need to stay organized to keep up with ours and our kids’ busy schedules.
We’re constantly struggling to juggle all our responsibilities and ask ourselves:
- What day did I sign-up to read with the kids at school?
- Who is driving to the scout meeting?
- When am I signed up to bring the team snacks?
- Do I have enough volunteers for the upcoming event?
These are just a few of the things busy parents have to keep straight, and try as we might, something inevitably falls through the cracks.
As busy parents ourselves, my husband and I struggle to stay on top of everything. We know the tremendous amount of work it takes to keep our kids’ groups organized (sports, playgroups, school classes, PTA / PTO, etc.). Our email inboxes filled with countless “reply all” chains going back and forth, time wasted digging for a missed piece of information, and stress built as we worry if we’ve forgotten something important. At the end of the day, all we really want is to stay organized so that our kids will be happy (and that we can stay sane!), and so we can enjoy the activities with our family and friends.
I first encountered this struggle when my oldest was in pre-school and I was barraged with a flurry of emails trying to plan a simple little class party. I imagined my life a few years ahead, with more than one child, in multiple activities, and I had a vision of stress, being overwhelmed and disorganized. I quickly realized I wasn’t alone in these feelings. After searching unsatisfactorily for something to help parents navigate this challenge, we came up empty. So my husband and I created PodKeeper, a web app that helps moms and dads manage their kids’ group activities. It simply makes managing groups easier and more efficient. You can easily communicate with other members of the group, see all your upcoming events, save to online calendars and maintain all important information in one easily-accessible place.
We know how busy the life of a parent can be, and our mission at PodKeeper is to help ease some of the stress that comes with keeping our kids active and involved. So we recommend doing yourself a favor this year and creating a “Pod” for each group in your life. PodKeeper then becomes the dashboard of your parenting life with all necessary information just a click away. Now you can start this school year on the right foot and stress free!
Social Corner
Keep up with all the latest that Nikki and her husband are doing with PodKeeper via social media!
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About Nikki Sacks and PodKeeper
PodKeeper is a free online group calendar and family organizer app for any mom or dad who manages a youth sports team, scout troop, PTA org or is a room parent for a school class. As an online organizer, PodKeeper allows parents to seamlessly schedule events, create sign up lists, store files and photos, and provide reminders and important last minute updates. PodKeeper was co-founded by Nikki Sacks and Steven Sacks, two successful executives-turned-entrepreneurs who are committed to providing “usable technology” that helps parents keep organized with minimal effort. PodKeeper is completely free and available at http://www.podkeeper.com.
