A calendar of birthdays everybody can see
Keep the family birthdays in one place that everybody can see, and never write them out again.
Somewhere in most families there is one person who remembers all the birthdays. When that person is tired or unwell, the whole family forgets everything.
A shared calendar fixes that in an afternoon. It is a list of dates with a name on it, kept in one place, and shown inside the calendar app of everybody you share it with. Nobody copies anything. When you add a date, it appears on their screens.
Key points
- Keep birthdays on their own calendar, separate from your appointments
- Set a date to come back every year and warn you a week before
- Share a calendar with the family, and see their additions appear by themselves
- Decide who may only look and who may add things, and change your mind later
What to remember
- Every year and Remind me are the two switches that make a calendar worth keeping.
- Sharing has two levels. Look only is the safe default, and you can promote somebody the moment it becomes a nuisance.
- Invite, choose what they may do, send. You can change your mind about any of it afterwards.
Try this
Open the calendar app on your phone and add one birthday, with Every year turned on and a reminder a week before. One birthday is enough to prove the idea works.
Practice: A calendar of birthdays everybody can see. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.