The Kitchen Table Explosion

There is a very specific look my kitchen table gets in February.

It starts innocent enough. One envelope from the bank. A printed statement from somewhere else. A note from the accountant that says, "Whenever you're ready…"

Whenever I'm ready? We spent the entire weekend at the ballpark in another town battling frigid temperatures. I forgot all about it. No worries — I kept receipts in a manila envelope this year. Or, so I thought.

By the end of the week, the table looks like a paper tornado hit somewhere between baseball practice and Wednesday night church.

Apparently, my husband stored his receipts in his truck console. To be fair, I found receipts in my car also. And I have 3 email addresses to sort through. I quit using one of them about 6 months ago because I got too much spam. Now, I have 1,965 emails to sort through. Thank goodness my search for "receipts" narrowed it down to 437.

The Glove Compartment Treasure Hunt

Tax season in a busy house isn't just paperwork.

It's:

• "Does anyone know where that donation receipt went?"
• "Did we ever download the 1099?"
• Digging through the glove compartment in the truck
• Logging into accounts with passwords that your computer insists are wrong
• Being on hold with the insurance company for 25 minutes tracking down a statement
• Reheating coffee for the third time

And the whole time, life keeps moving.

• There's still school pickup.
• There's still dinner.
• There's still a game at 6:30.

Tax season is at the worst time of the year. It's the worst couples activity ever! But honestly, it probably would not go any smoother if it were in the summer or the winter.

When Life Lives Everywhere, So Does Paperwork

We're managing:

• Multiple work schedules
• School calendars
• Sports apps
• Church events
• Rental properties
• Text threads
• Emails
• And whatever came home in a backpack today

When information lives everywhere, of course paperwork does too.

That mental load is definitely heavier during tax season. And tax season does not care about the overlapping of basketball and baseball season. It all lands on the table at once.

You Are Not Alone

For all of you that are battling to pull it all together during tax season — you are not alone. The struggle is real. Tax season will probably always involve a stack of papers on the kitchen table. Next year, I'm putting it on the calendar. And, of course, making my usual vows to keep better records.

Maybe next year we won't be scrambling to remember what happened in October.

And maybe, just maybe, when the whole family's schedule lives in one place during the year, February won't feel like a paper tornado.

Because I've realized something. When our schedule feels scattered, everything feels scattered.

But when everyone can see what's happening — practices, appointments, rental property deadlines, church events — the mental load gets lighter.

That's why we built HomeCalendar.

Not for tax season. But for all the ordinary Tuesdays that lead up to it.

Life doesn't have to feel like it's stored in three email addresses, two glove compartments, and two overwhelmed brains.

God bless you all during tax season. We will prevail. Let's Move Better Together!

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Ready to bring the whole family's schedule into one place? Try HomeCalendar free for 14 days and make next February a little less like a paper tornado.