Latest news with #SkylightCalendar
The Star
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Can a US$700 calendar save your marriage?
On a Thursday morning in March, my family needed to accomplish three things at exactly the same time. My husband had to board a plane to return from a business trip in London. I had agreed to moderate a panel discussion about how the cost of child care in New York City is harming the local economy. And someone had to sign our daughter up for a first-come-first-served preschool programme that typically fills its seats within 90 to 120 seconds of their online release at 10am. We had not properly accounted for this overlap through our shared Google calendar. Our snafu echoes across continents and generations, an age-old problem with a newish name: the mental load. It's the tedious, all-consuming work of planning our lives, made all the more tedious when young children are in the mix and free time seems to shrink to fleeting glances. Enter the digital calendar, which aims to make invisible work very, very visible. We received ours five to seven business days after our Thursday morning meltdown. We had identified our problem – essential information for our household was being shared only in snippets of conversation or haphazard Google calendar invites instead of one central place – and searched for a solution with a monthly installment payment. The Skylight Calendar, which can cost US$170 to US$630 (RM735 to RM2,726), depending on size, all with an optional US$79 (RM341) annual subscription fee to unlock special features, would make our scheduling conflicts impossible to ignore. The company took US$30 (RM129) off some of its calendars for Mother's Day. Our various appointments, early-morning calls and evening drinks would be beamed 24 hours a day, in all their colour-coded glory, from the Skylight's commanding position in the middle of our hallway. About 888,000 families own a Skylight, its co-founder Michael Segal, who has two children under 2, told me. The Hearth, one of the first entries into the category of supersize calendars that you can hang on a wall, was created by three working mothers and is itself a supersized version of the Skylight. It sells for US$700 (RM3,029), with a US$9 (RM38) monthly fee, though the company also ran a sale for Mother's Day, offering 15% off for Mother's Day. In an undated image provided by Hearth, the Hearth Display. The Hearth was created by three working mothers. — Hearth via The New York Times The idea behind the product, said Susie Harrison, one of Hearth's co-founders, was to 'externalise the primary caregiver's brain, and put that into a system that everyone could see'. I wanted to know how other families used their calendars, and spent the next few weeks talking with the tools' power users and sceptics: most partnered, all straight, with family budgets that could comfortably include a digital calendar. They were all ages 35 to 50, in the thick of raising young kids and juggling career demands. I wanted to know if these families felt that the money had been worth it, if they had finally found a technological solution to an analogue problem at the heart of human nature: that we cannot read our spouse's minds, to know when they scheduled our kid's next dental appointment or gymnastics class. Or, I wondered, had the purported fix uncovered new friction points, hiding in familiar gendered expectations of who does what to keep a household running. The 'calendar partner' I reached Linda Caro on a Friday morning, as she was preparing for a transcontinental flight. Caro and her husband are both flight attendants, working opposite schedules, and they are both technically based in New York City despite living in Redlands, California, with their two children, 10 and 13, who attend different schools. She unwrapped the Skylight last year on Christmas morning, a gift from her husband who had noticed that putting some of their events on a whiteboard calendar – and then taping their kids' school calendars into a semicircle around it – wasn't really working. 'It was my system; nobody else really understood it,' she said. But, she told me, she quickly became 'obsessed' with her Skylight, and joined Facebook and Reddit groups for other die-hard users. 'It's like something we wish we could have invented ourselves,' she said. (Caro is such an enthusiastic user that she recently became an unpaid ambassador to the brand, allowing her to dispense 15% off discount codes to friends, for which she said she receives a small commission.) She gave her two sisters, who live nearby, access so they could see when she would be flying and could help pitch in on child care. The kids can now check the calendar to track their parents' flight numbers. Caro even created an alert on the calendar to remind her husband to do the laundry – a move that some husbands might see as overbearing but that Caro said hers was on board with. Still, Caro is the only person in the family consistently adding events to the Skylight. 'That's something we can work on,' she admitted. It is hard to avoid the dynamic of one spouse becoming the 'calendar partner', a phrase that sent a chill down my spine when Allison Daminger, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explained it to me recently. We talked about the remedy that many families land on when trying to redistribute household labour: using the skills they have learned at work to help run their family life. 'You don't always want to go from a day of back-to-back Zoom meetings and then go home and have a check-in meeting with your partner,' said Daminger, the author of the forthcoming book What's On Her Mind: The Mental Workload Of Family Life . But that's exactly what several couples told me they do. Who knows when trash day is? The uncluttered calendar represents true logistical nirvana, said Eve Rodsky, who helped bring the idea of the mental load to the masses with her 2019 book, Fair Play , and accompanying deck of cards, each with its own task, used by couples around the country to divvy up their responsibilities. Rodsky has put the system to work in her own home. Her husband is in charge of every aspect of the trash in their home – from noticing when the garbage bags are running low and restocking them to sorting the recycling to picking a cadence for when the trash is taken out. Owning every aspect of a task, a practice Rodsky has coined CPE, for conception, planning and execution, is the only way to truly lighten the mental load, she says. And you can't calendar your way out of that. 'My biggest fear is the disappointment people are going to have when they think this amazing new shiny app will solve their gender-equity issues,' she said. Daminger said she had been approached by some entrepreneurial digital calendar founders who wanted her advice on how these tools might help moms in particular. 'I often end up being a buzzkill,' she said, 'where I say, 'I'm not sure this is actually going to change the underlying dynamic'.' Ruth de Castro, who has two teenagers and works in technology, understands that dynamic well. Her marriage had long felt unequal, but absorbing Rodsky's work on the mental load was the final straw that led to her divorce, de Castro said. 'I didn't have language for why keeping all those things in my brain was driving me crazy,' said de Castro, who lives in California's East Bay and works in technology. When she was still with her husband, she debated buying a Hearth – 'I was like, Do I really need this thing? It's 600 bucks,' she recalled – but took the plunge after she mixed up some dates and missed her daughter's ballet recital. She uses the Hearth to help ease the scheduling burden of co-parenting her two teenagers with her soon-to-be-ex-husband. It's actually simpler now that she doesn't have to hope that her partner will add important appointments to the calendar. 'You can buy something really aesthetic and nice,' she said. 'But if you're not consistent as a parent, it's almost like another thing you have to micromanage.' – ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
New York Post
09-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- New York Post
The Skylight Calendar might be the most thoughtful, chic gift yet
New York Post may be compensated and/or receive an affiliate commission if you click or buy through our links. Featured pricing is subject to change. Whether you're shopping for mom, your best friend or yourself, it's a known fact that someone is the unofficial CEO of their household. And with that comes a lot of things to keep in order. Between managing appointments, coordinating family meals and juggling a never-ending to-do list, staying organized is pretty much essential. That's what makes the Skylight Calendar such a brilliant, even luxurious, gift for moms. The Skylight Calendar is truly one of my most prized possessions and an item I *always* receive compliments on. It looks great in my house, provides unmatched organization and features a chic design. Advertisement It doesn't just offer convenience; it delivers peace of mind, all wrapped in a sleek, high-tech frame that looks as good as it functions. Let's be real — the product market is saturated with smart gadgets that often overpromise and underdeliver, but I find the Skylight Calendar to quietly exceed expectations. It does what every mom has wished for at some point: puts the entire household on the same page. It syncs seamlessly with personal Google Calendars, serves up daily meal planning with zero guesswork and even acts as a chore manager for the whole family. It's supremely intuitive, genuinely useful and surprisingly beautiful. Amazon And while its practicality is what wins moms over, its aesthetic is what gets it noticed. This is not a clunky piece of tech destined to be tucked away. The Skylight Calendar is proudly displayed, whether you decide to mount it on your wall like me, or use its included stand. It earns dozens of compliments from friends and family (I even had a delivery driver check it out while passing through the kitchen!) It's part digital assistant, part modern home accessory and entirely the kind of thoughtful gift that makes a mom feel seen, supported and just a little bit spoiled. The best part? It's currently on sale for less than $300! As you can probably piece together, the Skylight Calendar has become an indispensable part of my daily routine, as it seamlessly blends functionality with style. As someone who values organization and aesthetics, this device has transformed how I manage my family's schedule, meal planning and household tasks. Amazon One of the standout features is its meal prep function. Planning meals for the week can often feel overwhelming, but the Skylight Calendar simplifies this process. Through its intuitive interface, I can schedule meals, view recipes and even generate grocery lists. This has not only saved time but also reduced the stress of last-minute dinner decisions. The ability to access meals and tasks on both the calendar and the mobile app is another reason I love this product. Whether I'm at home or on the go, I can update and view schedules, check off completed tasks and adjust meal plans. This flexibility ensures that I'm always in control, regardless of my location. Amazon Aesthetically, the Skylight Calendar is a chic addition to any home. Its sleek design and high-resolution touchscreen make it a modern centerpiece. The device's clean lines and minimalist look complement various interior styles. It truly adds a touch of sophistication to my living space. Displaying photos on the Skylight Calendar adds a personal touch, too. The photo display feature allows me to showcase family pictures, turning the calendar into a dynamic digital photo frame. So, it's more than just a scheduling tool. Syncing personal Google Calendars with the Skylight Calendar ensures that all events are consolidated in one place. This is one of my favorite features! This integration eliminates the need to juggle multiple calendars, streamlining our scheduling process and reducing the risk of double-booking. Without a doubt, the Skylight Calendar has significantly improved my home's organization and efficiency. Its combination of functionality, design and impressive features makes it an invaluable tool for managing schedules, tasks and meals. Whether a gift for yourself or a loved one, it's sure to be a product that'll enhance their routine. For over 200 years, the New York Post has been America's go-to source for bold news, engaging stories, in-depth reporting, and now, insightful shopping guidance. We're not just thorough reporters – we sift through mountains of information, test and compare products, and consult experts on any topics we aren't already schooled specialists in to deliver useful, realistic product recommendations based on our extensive and hands-on analysis. Here at The Post, we're known for being brutally honest – we clearly label partnership content, and whether we receive anything from affiliate links, so you always know where we stand. We routinely update content to reflect current research and expert advice, provide context (and wit) and ensure our links work. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change. Looking for a headline-worthy haul? Keep shopping Post Wanted.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Building business
Feb. 24—MOSES LAKE — It's hardly a secret that Moses Lake is growing, and that's why this year's Business Expo on March 4 will have a construction theme. "We've got a lot of construction going on," said Debbie Doran-Martinez, director of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the show at the Grant County Fairgrounds. "We've got a new hospital underway. There's a Mexican market going in on Third Avenue ... We've got a lot of housing (construction) going on. In the industrial sector, we have Sila (Nanotechnologies) doing a buildout; we've got Group14 doing a buildout. There's lots of things happening." The theme is "Building our Economy for a Prosperous Future," and the expo promises to be a big one, taking up both the 4-H Building and the Commercial Building. There are 85 businesses coming, and last year's event was attended by more than 700 people, Doran-Martinez said. The premier sponsor, the Moses Lake Elks Club, will have a station set up for the club's youth ID program, which lets parents register information on their children for law enforcement in case a child ever goes missing or needs to be identified. Bud Clary will be the spotlight sponsor and will have vehicles all along one wall of the 4-H Building. In between there are vendors for everything under the sun, as well as food and beverages. The event coincides with the chamber's monthly Business After Hours, so pre-registered chamber members will also receive complimentary beverage tokens. The event is free and family-friendly, Doran-Martinez added. The Business Expo itself has grown over the years from about 20 booths in the early 1990s to filling two buildings the last three years, and it could grow even more, Doran-Martinez said. "We're at capacity, so I can't fit anymore into the space," she said. "So as soon as I'm turning away enough that I can fill half of another building, then we'll launch into a third building." Besides the wide range of businesses on display, there will be some fun activities, Doran-Martinez said. In keeping with the construction theme, there will be some Jenga games for attendees to play, and a blackout bingo card game. "People go around and if they visit 25 of the predetermined vendors that are on the card ... they get put into a drawing for a Skylight Calendar photo frame," she said. "That's kind of a cool, techie item that everybody can use in their household or office." An event like the Business Expo goes a long way toward fostering local commerce, Doran-Martinez said. In an age when it's easier to go online than across town, money spent at local businesses has a ripple effect. "It's critical that we shop local," she said. "If we want to have stores here, we have to support those entities. And shopping local builds our economy. It builds our quality of life. As we shop local, we pay our local taxes which benefit the municipality that offers products and services for our community ... the Amazons aren't sponsoring the Little League baseball team here. They're not donating to the Cancer Foundation. They're not doing those things that local businesses do." Moses Lake Business Expo March 4, 4-7 p.m. Grant County Fairgrounds 3953 Airway Drive NE, Moses Lake More information:
