Okay, you plannerholics, here's another one to feed your cravings: the BusyBodyBook Organizer by About Your Time. This is a 7x10 spiral bound book (a little larger than the MomAgenda, and not quite as thick) with a pocket on the front and back cover. Its format is a weekly grid with five columns for each day. You could use one column for mom and the others for kids, sort of like the MomAgenda (though laid out quite differently). Or if you're a homeschooler you could use it as an assignment/lesson books with a column for different subjects.
Here's a walk-through:
• 2 page spread for birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
• 3 months at a glance. (I love this feature—though the boxes are small, they're big enough to mark major events like vacations, doctor appointments, and so forth, and I love the idea of seeing a three-month chunk at once.)
• Then the weekly spreads begin: left page is for notes & lists; right page is the weekly grid. The days of the week run down the page; you enter names or topics across in the columns. To use it just for yourself, you could do something like: Appointments, Chores, Errands, Meals, Misc. Or, as I said above, have a column for yourself and one for each kid.
• In the back are several pages for notes, and then a bunch of tear-out To Do lists, which is a nifty feature. In the very back are two pages for addresses (seems intended just for your most frequent contacts, not a full address book) and a bookmark.
The bottom corner of the lefthand notes pages (opposite the weekly grids) has faint photo images for decoration, mostly warm family scenes. I'm not crazy about this feature—I don't think I'd notice it after the first week or two, but I don't really want to see strangers smiling up from my planner. Could be just me. Otherwise it's a nice clean design.
The weeks go Monday through Sunday.
Jane pounced on this one immediately; she sees endless possibilities for filling those grids.
Other planner reviews:
momAgenda
Catholic Woman's Daily Planner
Small Meadow Press — Circle of Days
Hi Melissa.
Thank you so much for the review!
Jill
BusyBodyBook Family Organizer
Posted by: Jill | July 17, 2006 at 02:20 PM
Hi Melissa,
A BIG thank you for spreading your good word about BusyBodyBook and especially for noting the versatility of the Weekly GRIDs.
Great review!
Joan Goldner
Publisher & Mom
About Your Time
Posted by: Joan Goldner | July 17, 2006 at 02:42 PM
I love my BusyBodyBook. I have been able to schedule and overschedule my four kids lives thanks to this planner. Great for large families....
Posted by: Pamela Hornik | July 17, 2006 at 02:43 PM
Now this one actually looks about right for me. Hmmm...
Posted by: Theresa | July 17, 2006 at 06:23 PM
A belated thank you to reviewing the BusyBodyBook Family Organizer.
We wanted to let you know that we JUST launched the BusyBodyBook Blog and we did a link-back to you blog from ours.
http://www.busybodybookblog.typepad.com
Again, thank you!!! Come visit us on our new blog!
Posted by: Jill | August 11, 2006 at 09:32 PM