Coordinating Schedules with Shared Calendar

Between work meetings, kids' activities, au pair hours, and family commitments, keeping everyone synchronized feels impossible. AuPairSync's shared calendar brings clarity to chaos—everyone sees who's where and when, automatically.

Why Shared Calendars Transform Coordination

A shared calendar eliminates the constant "What time is pickup?" texts and prevents double-booking disasters. With AuPairSync, your family gains:

• Single source of truth - No more conflicting schedules across multiple apps
• Automatic sync - Updates appear instantly on everyone's devices
• Visual clarity - Color-coded activities show who's doing what at a glance
• Conflict prevention - Overlapping commitments are flagged immediately

What You'll Learn

1. Setting up your family's shared calendar
2. Creating events with rich context
3. Color-coding by person or activity type
4. Setting up recurring events and routines
5. Syncing with external calendars
6. Managing pickup/dropoff logistics

Step 1: Initial Calendar Setup

Add Family Members

First, ensure all family members are added to your household:

1. Open AuPairSync and go to Settings > Family
2. Add each person who needs access to the calendar
3. Assign a unique color to each person for visual clarity

Recommended colors:

• Parent 1: Blue
• Parent 2: Purple
• Au Pair: Green
• Child 1: Pink
• Child 2: Orange

Choose Your Default View

1. Tap Calendar from the main menu
2. Select your preferred view:
   • Day View - Hour-by-hour breakdown (best for detailed planning)
   • Week View - See patterns across 7 days (default, recommended)
   • Month View - High-level overview

Step 2: Creating Rich Context Events

AuPairSync events go beyond basic calendar entries—add details that prevent confusion.

Basic Event Creation

1. Tap + Event or tap any time slot in the calendar
2. Fill in essentials:
   • Title: "Emma's soccer practice"
   • Time: 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
   • Location: Lincoln Park Fields
   • Who: Emma, Au Pair (assign participants)

Adding Helpful Context

Make events actionable with extra details:

1. Add Location Pin 📍

   • Tap location field to add map pin
   • Enables one-tap navigation
   • Shows travel time estimate

2. Attach Notes

   • What to bring (water bottle, cleats, shin guards)
   • Coach contact info
   • Pickup instructions

3. Add Photos

   • Picture of field layout
   • Photo of coach for recognition
   • Image of proper practice attire

4. Set Reminders

   • 1 hour before: "Leave in 1 hour"
   • 30 min before: "Time to get ready"
   • 10 min before: "Depart now"

Event Categories

Organize events by type for easier filtering:

• School - Classes, homework, parent-teacher meetings
• Activities - Sports, music lessons, playdates
• Medical - Doctor appointments, therapy sessions
• Family - Dinners, outings, travel
• Work - Parent work hours, meetings
• Au Pair - Au pair class, time off, activities

Step 3: Color-Coding and Visual Organization

Visual clarity prevents scheduling conflicts and makes coordination effortless.

Color-Coding Options

Choose one system (or combine both):

Option 1: Color by Person

• All Emma's activities = Pink
• All Lucas's activities = Orange
• Au pair activities = Green
• Parent activities = Blue/Purple

Option 2: Color by Category

• School events = Yellow
• Medical = Red
• Activities = Blue
• Family time = Green

Quick Visual Scanning

With proper color-coding, you can instantly:

• See if anyone is double-booked
• Identify free time slots for scheduling
• Know who needs to be where
• Spot au pair's work hour distribution

Step 4: Recurring Events and Routines

Save time by setting up repeating events once.

Create a Recurring Event

1. Create an event as normal

2. Tap Repeat

3. Choose pattern:

   • Daily - Morning routine, evening routine
   • Weekly - Soccer every Tuesday, piano lessons
   • Custom - Complex patterns (e.g., "Every other Friday")

4. Set end condition:

   • Never - Ongoing routine
   • End date - School semester, au pair contract duration
   • After N occurrences - 10-week session

Routine Templates

AuPairSync includes templates for common routines:

Morning Routine (Weekdays)

• 7:00 AM: Wake kids
• 7:15 AM: Breakfast
• 7:45 AM: Leave for school
• 8:00 AM: School drop-off

After-School Routine

• 3:00 PM: School pickup
• 3:30 PM: Snack time
• 4:00 PM: Homework hour
• 5:00 PM: Free play/activities
• 6:00 PM: Dinner prep

Tap Use Template when creating an event to start from these structures.

Step 5: Syncing External Calendars

Connect work calendars, school calendars, and more for a complete view.

Integration Setup

1. Go to Settings > Calendar Integrations

2. Select your calendar provider:

   • Google Calendar
   • Apple iCloud Calendar
   • Microsoft Outlook
   • School district calendars

3. Choose sync direction:

   • Two-way - Changes sync both ways
   • Import only - External events appear in AuPairSync only

What Gets Synced

• Event titles and times
• Locations
• Basic notes
• Reminders

Privacy Note: Only events you've selected to share appear in the family calendar. Your private meetings stay private.

Step 6: Pickup/Dropoff Logistics

Special features for managing the daily school run and activity coordination.

Pickup Checklist Feature

Create automated checklists for complex pickups:

Example: After-School Pickup

1. ☐ Arrive by 3:05 PM (carpool lane)
2. ☐ Check for backpack and lunchbox
3. ☐ Ask about homework assignments
4. ☐ Verify playdates or changes to schedule
5. ☐ Text parent when safely in car

Dropoff Instructions

Add specific details to dropoff events:

• Where to park: "Parent parking lot on west side"
• Who to meet: "Ms. Johnson will meet you at entrance"
• What to bring: Checklist with photos
• Sign-in procedures: Screenshot of required form

Carpool Coordination

When coordinating with other families:

1. Add other parents as Event Guests

2. They receive notification and can:

   • Confirm attendance
   • See all event details
   • Communicate changes

3. Rotation tracking:

   • Mark whose turn for carpool duty
   • Auto-reminders 1 day before your turn
   • Easy swap if plans change

Advanced Calendar Features

Conflict Detection

AuPairSync automatically flags scheduling conflicts:

• Red warning - Same person double-booked
• Yellow caution - Insufficient travel time between events
• Orange alert - Au pair exceeding weekly hour limit

Travel Time Calculator

For events with locations:

• Auto-calculates travel time
• Factors in traffic (real-time)
• Suggests departure time
• Adds buffer for parking

Availability Blocking

Mark unavailable times:

• Parent work hours (auto-blocked)
• Au pair class times
• Family dinner (protected time)
• Children's nap times

Calendar Best Practices

Do's

✅ Add locations to everything - Enables navigation and travel time estimates

✅ Set multiple reminders - Different lead times for preparation vs. departure

✅ Include contact information - Coach phone numbers, facility contacts

✅ Update immediately - Last-minute changes sync instantly

✅ Review weekly - Sunday planning session to preview the week ahead

Don'ts

❌ Don't over-schedule - Leave buffer time between activities

❌ Don't forget recurring events - Set them once, save time forever

❌ Don't skip end dates - Recurring events need end conditions to avoid clutter

❌ Don't ignore conflict warnings - Address double-bookings immediately

Common Scheduling Scenarios

Multi-Child Coordination

Managing siblings with overlapping activities:

1. Use split-screen view to see both kids' schedules
2. Set up carpool coordination when possible
3. Mark priority events that can't be missed
4. Identify backup plans for conflicts

Shared Custody Scheduling

For families with multiple households:

1. Color-code by parent residence days
2. Set up automatic handoff reminders
3. Share medical/school events with both parents
4. Mark flexible activities that can shift between weeks

Au Pair Schedule Management

Track work hours automatically:

1. Mark events where au pair is on duty
2. AuPairSync tallies weekly hours
3. Alerts if approaching weekly limit (usually 45 hours)
4. Export hour logs for record-keeping

Try It Yourself

Ready to coordinate your family's schedule effortlessly?

Join the TestFlight Beta and experience shared calendar synchronization.

Related Feature Guides

• How to Set Up Your Family Dashboard
• Managing Tasks Effectively with Photos & Context
• Streamlining Communication with Message Hub

Learn More

• Calendar Feature Showcase - See the shared calendar in action
• Use Case: Managing School Pickups - Detailed pickup coordination guide
• Use Case: Multi-Parent Coordination - Shared custody scheduling

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Questions? Contact us at support@aupairsync.com or join our community forum.