If you’ve been using Cozi for awhile, you’re undoubtedly accustomed to life without a kitchen wall calendar by now. In fact, many Cozi families haven’t used paper calendars for so long that they can barely remember the illegible scribbles and scratch-outs that were inherent in that now obsolete system. Cozi converts wouldn’t dream of going back to a pen-and-paper calendar system any more than they would dream of giving up their computer.

If you’re a new Cozi family, though, you might be struggling with the transition from paper to your Cozi online family calendar. After all, old habits are hard to break, and it’s natural to turn to the kitchen wall for information when that’s where you’ve turned for so long. That’s okay, and you’re not alone! Just don’t give up!

With thousands of people a day joining the more than 1 million current Cozi family members, a lot of other people out there are learning how to upload family pictures, add email addresses for family members, and verify cell phones to receive text messages from Cozi. There’s a learning curve with adopting anything new, and getting the hang of a new system requires a little effort and a little patience. The rewards of using the Cozi family organizer are tremendous, though, so stick with it!

Cozi offers a new approach, and once you get the hang of it, there’ll be no turning back. Once you get used to being able to access your family calendar from any computer, anywhere, why would you want to go back to having to be home to check your appointments on the kitchen wall? Once you get used to being able to send calendar information to your easily sidetracked teenagers via text message, why would you want to go back to the days when you had to rely on sticky notes that could be so easily ignored? Once you get used to being able to call in for your shopping lists from the grocery store, and have the items read to you or sent via text message, why would you want to go back to more sticky notes, haphazardly strewn around your kitchen, purse, and car? I could go on and on with examples of how much you’ll utilize and enjoy your Cozi family planner once you get into the groove of your new system, but you’ll discover all that for yourself soon enough, and you’ll undoubtedly have your own favorite features.

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to convert all at once or learn new habits too quickly. If jumping in all at once is your style, by all means shred the wall calendar and don’t look back. But if you’re more comfortable dipping your toes into the water gradually, feel free to ease into your new system step by step. You might even experience some bumps along the way as you learn the ropes of your new family calendar. After all, when you first learned how to send email or text messages, it probably took some time, but can you imagine life with emails or texts now? Adopting a new way of organizing and managing your family’s busy life might provide a similar challenge, but Cozi’s worth it; you definitely won’t regret leaving your old wall calendar system behind.

You can even keep your old wall calendar up if you enjoy the pictures or just don’t have anything else to put in its place yet. I’m willing to bet, though, that by February or March you’ll forget to turn the page, because you’ll look at it so rarely. At that point, you’ll be a true Cozi convert, joining the million+ other Cozi family members who rely on Cozi and can't imagine life without it. Welcome, and enjoy!