On the go? Day Runner to the rescue!

"The hurried-er I go, the behind-er I get."

Yup. That would describe our family. We're not exactly what you'd call proactive people. We're more along the lines of "Whu? You needed that yesterday. D'oh!"

For the most point it all boils down to organization. Or ahem, LACK of organization.

So when Parent Bloggers Network was offering bloggers a chance to review the Day Runner Family Matters organizational system, I was all "Ohh! Ohhh! Pick me." I might have even offered to name any future children after both Kristen and Julie. Oh, wait. I FORGOT to send them that e-mail. They must have picked up on my desperate vibes, then.

What did I think? Well... the erasable calender, which is now on the planning desk in the kitchen, is a great concept. The designated day spaces are big so you could fit alot of necessary info on each block. But I wish the erasable marker that accompanied the package had a finer point as you can't really write very tiny if you want your writing to be legible. But I would assume that I could find a finer point marker somewhere, yes?

The wirebound monthly/weekly appointment book looks super cool. Being that the one I have is for 2008, I've yet to use it. And frankly, right now, I don't think I would use it. But 2008 is the year I will most likely be looking for gainful employment. This could, no doubt, come in very handy when I need to juggle a work schedule with Seth's education and my hubby's job, which happens to involve ALOT of travel.

The erasable door reminders haven't been something we've used for an organizational purpose. Honestly, when I post a reminder, I tape it to a door and make sure its eye level. I'd never remember to look down at the door handle. But now that my son is starting to read, I actually use one to write a little note to him each morning. (Like, "Mom loves Seth. Go, Seth go!") He gets quite a kick out of erasing the note and leaving one for me.

I do wish though at least one of the erasable door reminders had a magnetic strip on the back. Because then one could position it on the side of the fridge. The hubby gets a bit irritated when he's trying to take a phone message and can't find paper and a pen, so one of the reminders is now sitting next to the phone at the planning desk as well.

The activity folders and storage cases, I confess, haven't been used for their intended purpose either. I do have one storage case downstairs to catch stray school papers and newsletters. But the rest now reside in the office. As a result? Bills aren't getting lost under mounds of kindergarten art work, charity solicitations, insurance paperwork and other stuff. This is GOOD! Very, very good. When you can FIND stuff, its far easier to be a proactive person.

All in all, for now our lives are simple enough that we don't require a color coding organizational system. But in a few years, I'm sure we will. And I'll now exactly where to go for what I need.

This review was written on behalf of the Parent Bloggers Network. For more reviews on this product and many others, click HERE.