Google Apps For the Family "Enterprise"

My family runs on the Google platform. The same tools that I use every day at work managing projects have proved very effective at home.

We have a shared family Google calendar through Gmail that contains appointments, birthdays, and weekend plans. Some weeks my husband and I are like two ships passing in the night, if it's not on the calendar , it doesn't happen.

I have a 1 year old with a few different baby sitters and nannies. I quickly realized that it was more effective to publish his developmental milestones and instructions once rather than remember who knew what. I didn't have time in the morning to bring someone up to speed. Babies change too quickly! So I created a Google Group especially for my son. Fondly known as "Jack's" Portal. I invited his caretakers to join and instantly had an group email address I could use to reach them all at once (which comes in handy when I need to send an emergency babysitting request). I use the Discussion Group to store eating habits, nap schedules, and important contact information.

I've also created a shared nanny/babysitting calendar where each person can self manage the dates they are available to watch my son. This gets me out of the business of managing a schedule and acting as middle man when someone needs to change days. It's brilliant! The caretakers just pick the dates that work best and add it to the schedule.

Thank you Google for giving me tools transferable between work and home life, that are practical, and easy to use!

Would love to hear comments on how your family uses technology to make life easier.