Juggling schedules for my family of five is a constant source of stress. Every day I deal with calendars for three kids in three different schools, plus their extra-curricular activities and the constantly evolving work schedules of me and my husband. All the meal planning, grocery shopping, and general house upkeep seem never ending.

For years, my husband and I shared a Google Calendar. It’s helpful, but not enough. Which is why I was excited when my family received a Skylight Calendar to try out.

Two of my kids—now a teen and a tween, ages 15 and 12—are just starting to become better at managing their own schedules, and they’re old enough to engage with a connected, touchscreen calendar. Families with younger children may not get the same benefits from a device like this, which WIRED reviewer Nena Farrell learned when she tested the Skylight with her preschool-age kid. My kids are touchscreen natives, and my 12-year-old son took to it right away.

As soon as we got the Skylight, he unboxed and set up the 15-inch screen on a counter near the kitchen using the built-in stand. (It also comes in 10- and 27-inch sizes, and the two largest models can be mounted on the wall.) We all downloaded the Skylight app onto our phones and synced up to the main device.

The calendar can connect to existing calendar apps from Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Yahoo. I am a Google user, and I helped my son import my Google Calendar to give us a base of scheduled activities. He set up a color-coded calendar for each kid in the family and moved their activities (from my already imported Google Calendar) to their individual colors. He also added a color for the household chores, like taking out the garbage and recycling, which are often up for grabs depending on who’s home. I loved this idea. It gave those duties their own category, even if I’m the one in my family still doing most of the heavy lifting.

One thing that surprised me was how excited my kids were to see everyone’s schedule. I didn’t realize that since they’ve gotten ...