We get this question a lot: can my kids share their routine chart? Can I set up the calendar so everyone's activities and appointments are on it?

If we want a tool like this to work, we want our kids to feel a sense of pride and ownership and like they had a part in building it.

Part of being a kid is feeling like life is happening to you. All the grown-ups make all the decisions, they're constantly telling you what to do and what not to do...just bossing you around, all day long.

Being part of the conversation about what is going to happen during the week or day gives kids a sense of control that every human needs in order to relax, no matter what their age is.

When you're splitting the calendars between multiple kids, you can understand how that sense of control might be diluted.

When they feel a sense of ownership over the calendar because it represents them and their lives, they feel a sense of pride. And with that sense of pride, comes a willingness to use it. And when they use it, they feel even more pride, and more responsible, and they continue to use it.

When something belongs to just us, we like it better. And we want them to like this and use it. So as much as I wish I could tell you that the kids can share it, it's going to be much more effective if they have their own.