This time last year, parents were racing to wrap up school supply shopping, buying uniforms, and packing lunchboxes. And although this year there will be fewer worries about transportation or picking out the perfect school outfit, parents can still use a hand in staying on top of homework, activities, and general wellness. Here are a couple great tools to keep you sane:

Health and Wellness

• WebMD – Who wants to sit in a doctor’s office with everything else going on? WebMD allows you to research symptoms and possible treatment for small medical emergencies or colds from the comfort of your home.
• Heal – Many health insurance companies provide teledoc services, but if you are uninsured or need to reach someone without an appointment, this app directs you to a health call center or on-call doctor to help diagnose illness or direct you to seek in-person care.
• Talkspace – With so much focus on physical wellness, mental health has taken a backseat during the pandemic despite the fact that many people’s anxiety and depression has worsened over the past few months. Talkspace pairs you or a family member up with a licensed therapist and provides a variety of payment structures to make sure your emotional health is taken care of.

Organization

• Timetree – You’re a parent! But you’re also likely an employee, a spouse, a coach, and a taxi driver for kids. If you need multiple calendars accessible by different groups of people, Timetree is for you. You can color code events, invite friends and colleagues to use specific calendars, and view all of your events on a single feed so nothing will slip through the cracks.
• Artkive – Yes, your sweet angels are the most amazing artists whoever lived. But when your fridge can’t handle another piece of art, use Artkive to capture that painting (certificate, report card, or other special memory) on your phone and save it by child, date, or category.
• 2Houses – The object of this app is to relieve conflict and facilitate better communication while co-parenting. It features in-app communication tools, calendars that help manage custody schedules (without sharing personal calendar entries), and helps track shared expenses throughout the month.

Faking it Till you Make it

• Photomath – Terrified by “new math”? Don’t be. Just take a picture of that undoable geometry problem, upload it to Photomath, and receive not only the answer but step-by-step directions for how to solve it. You might even learn something!
• Yummly – This app has some incredible recipes (searchable and scrollable) you can add to your calendar as well as a shopping list that ensures you have all the ingredients you need for tonight or a special occasion.

It is going to be a challenge but just remember: everyone loves mac and cheese, there’s only one Monday every week, and hardly any of us will ever need calculus in real life. Best of luck!