Me In A Tree – Helping Busy Families Connect

With the holidays coming, I’m continually getting pitches about products of course, but I’m also seeing a trend.  Many companies are sending information on how to make the holidays less stressful, how to focus on reading to your children every day, and how a chore chart can help your children learn the value of money.  The central theme here is focusing on the family and scheduling in time together.  It all sounds fabulous in theory but I, like many parents, have a hard time putting the plan into action!  I need help!

Me In A Tree is an online tool created by three Canadian parents who recognize that families are busier than ever and need an easy, digital place to organize, connect, and thrive.  We live in a digital world and our children are exponentially more digital-oriented than we were at their age, so it makes sense to offer tools to families that reflect our digital age, rather than going back to what generations before us may have used. The concept is still the same, but they’re doing away with reward charts on the fridge and calendars on the pantry door and instead giving families a digital asset for it all.

Developed by a team of professionals including a Social Worker and an Advisory Council including a Canadian Parenting Expert and a well-known US radio host, the website has a fabulous team of experts who have advised on the content (and continue to do so as the site grows).

Signing up is easy – Me In A Tree offers parents a free two-week trial to check out the site and get adjusted so there’s no reason not to give it a try.

Mom or dad can either sign up the whole family at once, or they can involve the kids by letting them choose the look of their character.  I created characters and corresponding colors for the entire family – my character is seen here.  I like her! 😉

Once your family characters are created, it’s time to explore the site!  What I like about the site on first impressions is that it doesn’t tell you the right way or the wrong way to parent.  The site is full of resources to help you parent in the way that works best for your family.  Perhaps you’ve seen that your children work well on a rewards-based system, or maybe you avoid that concept altogether and rather focus on group-based activities for a common family goal.  Whatever your method, parents just want to do what’s best for their families and we can all use a little help to achieve that!

This site, asset, app – whatever way you want to describe it – can be as user heavy as you want it to be.  You can use it as a great calendar for the family – each person is color coded, remember, so you can log in from home or work and see the day or week at a glance and also see what responsibilities you have (don’t forget to pick her up from gymnastics!) or you can jump right in with your first Family Huddle which gives you specific times for focused discussion.

I also really like the My Duties area of the site, which gives you the ability to add daily or weekly duties for the entire family and determine what rewards are applicable to each (if any).

After taking about ten days to review the concept of the site, I can definitely see how this can help busy families focus, come together, and work as a team to get the household in order.  While the holiday season is likely the busiest season of all, my suggestion to those interested is to take a look at the site using the 2 week free trial available and then determine if it’s a fit for your family and also follow Me In A Tree on Facebook.  If it is, give yourself a pat on the back for surviving this holiday season and aim to jump into Me In a Tree full time starting in January.

For those that can’t wait until January, and are eager to start right away, you can continue forward after the 2 week free trial.  Pricing information is below.

Being frugal, I’m always looking at paid-website programs skeptically. My son wanted to get a 6 month membership to a game-site for $30, so we asked him to pony-up $10 towards it (truthfully it may have been more but that’s all he had in his wallet after his summer of fun spending!)  The point is that, by making him partially pay for it himself, he takes ownership in it and is likely to use it more realizing that it cost him something.  The same holds true in Me In A Tree membership.  For the cost of a couple double-doubles a month, your family has a structured program to help navigate – well – life!  Because you’ve paid into it, you are (I believe) more likely to use it and make an honest attempt to focus on the program weekly for the family.

I encourage you to check out the website and see if the program may be a fit for your family.  If anything, a 2-week free trial can give you some ideas for ways you can focus in 2013 and celebrate the amazing family you already know you have – with the tools to make it even better.