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Worth it? My take on the Skylight Calendar
Published 4 months ago • 5 min read
After eyeing the Skylight Calendar for a long time, I finally got one for Mother’s Day and we’ve been testing it all summer. I’ve seen the glowing social media reviews, but honestly, I wasn’t sure it would be worth it since it's pricey and we already had a solid Google Calendar and meal planning system.
Three months later, here’s my honest take.
Why I Tried the Skylight Calendar
Family schedule access: Our shared Google Calendar works well for David and I, but I wanted a way for the kids to see what’s going on without needing their own devices.
Meal planning on the go: Our whiteboard is great, but not much help when I’m at the office or store and need the grocery list or want to see the plan for dinner.
Chores & routines: We didn’t have a set system for this and I wanted one central place to assign and track tasks—especially helpful with our 7-year-old bored at home all summer.
Digital over paper: As a busy family on the go, digital tools are so much easier to update and maintain from anywhere.
What I Love Most
All calendars in one place: It syncs Google, Apple, Outlook, etc., with color-coded events for each person. Changes update instantly in both places. Easily toggle between daily, weekly or monthly calendar views.
Meal planning & grocery lists: Plan meals one day at a time or schedule recurring meals. Save recipes and automatically add ingredients to you grocery list. Huge time saver. *Grocery lists are free but meal planning requires the paid subscription.
Chores & routines for kids: Chloe loved checking off her summer routines and to-dos. I even made a “Family” list for shared to-dos so everyone could pitch in, especially helpful during busy times like last week when we were trying to pack for vacation and clean our house for overnight guests all at the same time.
Ease of use: Adding events, lists, or chores is fast—on the touchscreen or in the app. I also love the AI Sidekick for importing events straight from emails, PDFs or photos. So great for those long school and activity schedules! *Sidekick is part of the paid subscription.
Features We Haven’t Used Yet (But Are Very Cool)
Rewards system: Assign any number of stars to a chore and kids can earn stars for checking things off their list. So far, Chloe is motivated by the list alone so we haven't introduced rewards yet. This is part of the paid subscription.
Digital picture frame: With the subscription, your calendar can double as a picture frame! I love this feature but haven't gotten around to uploading photos yet.
Custom lists: Create as many lists as you want for packing, errands, wish lists, etc.
Other Things to Note
Comes in 10", 15", or 27" sizes—ours is the 15" and feels perfect.
Can be wall-mounted or sit on a stand, horizontal or vertical.
Requires Wi-Fi but has no web/social media access.
Alexa integration is in beta - very excited to have the ability for Alexa to add things to my lists.
No desktop access as of now - everything is done either in the app or on the Skylight's touchscreen.
The Facebook community is full of ideas for all kinds of families and situations—everything from ADHD-friendly setups to divorced co-parenting to organizing college schedules.
The Skylight company is constantly working on new features and improvements.
Is the Subscription Worth It?
I tried it for a month without the subscription and still found it well worth the purchase. This was a splurge for us and it was nice to know you can use a lot of the features right out of the box without committing to an ongoing subscription. But the meal planning system alone sold me on the $79/year subscription. The photo frame and AI Sidekick are nice bonuses, too.
Final Verdict
I went in bit skeptical, but I now think the Skylight Calendar is 100% worth it for busy families. It centralizes all our schedules, meal plans, and tasks so everyone can see what’s going on without always asking mom.
As our kids get older and busier, I can see it becoming even more valuable. Just this week, I forwarded Chloe’s long dance schedule to the calendar and it was instantly added to her color-coded calendar.
If you’re juggling multiple schedules, meal planning, and household to-dos, I think you’ll love it too. Hit reply if you have questions and I'd be happy to answer them. Or if you already use it, tell me your favorite feature!
-Emily
Links of the Week
We do a lot of short weekend trips and when I shared the gigantic bag I pack all of our family's clothes in in stories last week, you all went nuts! I loathe having a thousand bags to load and unload so each family member puts their clothes in a packing cube, then those all go in this huge tote bag. It also worked great for hauling all the baby gear on trips or I've even stuffed it with Christmas presents. It's seriously gigantic but we pack it so full of stuff and the handles have held up perfectly for over 2 years of regular use! Tons of cute colors and a great price.
These little two-compartment snack containers are so great! Stock your fridge and you have grab-and-go snack packs ready for school, activities and after-school snacks.
Have you seen the trend of bedazzling book covers? I tried it and it was SO FUN! It's super easy so you don't need to be very crafty at all. This kit has everything you need to give it a try! Fun weekend project or a low key group activity with your kids or friends.
My new label maker is going to be so handy for labeling all of these back-to-school supplies! Use code SMALLSTUFF for a discount at checkout).
I shared this kids cookbook on Instagram and so many of you were excited about it! It's a super basic cookbook for young kids - every step of the recipe has a photo with detailed instructions. We paired this with a set of kids' knives as a gift when Chloe was 5, she's 7 1/2 now and has made a few recipes all on her own this summer.
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