Wall calendars and your family culture

Little practices have always set the foundation for our family culture: washing your hands and feet when you come inside for dinner, adhering to the chore chart stuck to the fridge, and paying attention to the wall calendar. Family culture is often happening routinely and without thought, but it glues everyone together in a similar mindset, shared habits, and common priorities. When my mom said, “We don’t do that,” it meant it was against this culture. 

Relationships thrive when you remember

In our house the wall calendar hung in the kitchen. Everyone’s birthday was on it, and how old they were turning, written in red. Doctors appointments, get-togethers, babysitting schedules and vacations all receive their place on the calendar grid. It was the oil between the gears of our family, and surely saved my mom a lot of repetitive questions. “When is Aiden’s graduation party?” “Look on the calendar.”

It also helped us become better neighbors, friends, and better members of our extended family. We never forgot to say happy birthday. Not because we remembered today was your special day, but because the wall calendar reminded us. It reminded us we were about to be late for our coffee date and to hurry up. It reminded us we can’t schedule lunch with Lindsey on the 12th since we already have a plan to help Granny that afternoon. Relationships thrive when you remember the birthdays, the plans and promises you made. Calendars prevent you from forgetting.

Family culture can last for generations

When I moved out of my parents house in my 20’s, I didn’t take the calendar with me. Family culture is often set by the adults and followed absent-mindedly by the children. Either they can’t wait to change the culture when they leave or they have taken it for granted the whole time. I was in the latter group.

Suddenly I was double scheduling on all my friends. And consequently, bailing on half of them. I became flaky and unreliable. Pair this with my propensity to be late, and it was teetering on “bad friend” territory. 

I missed out on local events I really wanted to go to simply because I forgot they were happening that night. Work was busy and distracting that day, and wrapped up in my thoughts about that, I’d fumble my opportunity to go to my favorite artists’ openings and studio tours. 

Thankfully Facebook existed by then (and everyone was still on it) so I rarely forgot about birthdays. Whew. 

By the time my boyfriend and I moved out of our apartment and into a rental house, I realized I might actually need help with scheduling. To be fair, my mom had been recommending I get a calendar for ages already. And I had been ignoring the advice. But we had a cute, large kitchen in the new house – perfect for hanging up a wall calendar.

Culture and calendars evolve

The A Cup of Cloudy illustration calendars were made that year. 

In mid-2018 I began planning them. Initially the calendars were going to be fully designed by me in Photoshop. I was hand-drawing the grid squares and the illustrations, all on the same page as the same image. Digital art was new to me then; I was hardly using any separate layers. This was a lot of work and (thankfully, in hindsight) Photoshop crashed and corrupted all three calendar pages I had already drawn up. RIP to those paintings.

Starting over, I decided to use pre-set calendar grids and they were separate elements from my illustrations. Any designer knows how important this was. It was easier to edit, add holidays, change sizing, and fit the artwork exactly how I wanted.

In 2019, the calendars were available for the first time.

A new era for our wall calendars

That year I helped alter the family culture for at least a dozen families. Including my own.

Every year the tradition grows of receiving your new A Cup of Cloudy calendar in the mail before Christmas and hanging it up for New Years Day.

Many folks re-wrap their calendars and give them as gifts during the holidays, which spreads the culture amongst friends and coworkers and loved ones. Now all these folks will remember their coffee dates, never again to double schedule and have to cancel on Grandma! A whole new community of people will have their birthdays remembered. More moms will have to answer less questions. Entire household trajectories will be changed ever so slightly by that shared wall calendar in the kitchen.

And new family traditions that I couldn’t have predicted sprung up. 

On the first of each month I remind our calendar crew to “flip yer calendars!” to the next page. It’s become quite the celebration, a moment to review the last 30 days and get excited for the next. But some took it to another level. Most families wait to look at all the illustrations in the calendar when they initially receive it. Instead, they let it be a surprise on the first when they flip their calendars. The whole house gathers around to watch the event and say what they think about the drawing and state their hopes for the new month. 

What an amazing habit to add into your family culture!

I make sure to honor your wishes by not posting any spoilers on social media or anywhere. No peeking!

Although seemingly small, it’s uplifting to have something to look forward to. And knowing you’re doing it with others – even people you don’t know – feels like it brings us all together.

Wall decor matters, too

What makes A Cup of Cloudy calendars different from others is the artwork. The illustrations are pulled from my favorites of the previous year (but you don’t know which they will be!) and they’re all beautiful. 

The illustrations are dreamy, cool-toned, nature-themed, thought-provoking, and sometimes you’ll even get a poem included. The poems and artwork have been getting really positive feedback from you all. 

Another practice that’s sprung up is cutting these illustrations out of the calendar at the close of each year and repurposing them. I’ve seen them pasted into scrapbooks, hung up in mini frames, and saved like giant trading cards. 

Reviewing the year with your family during a winter break cut-and-paste craft can be a tradition that kids and adults both cherish. The customs that survive generations are always useful, fun, and nostalgic. This fits neatly into all three.

Anything can be a family tradition if you do it every year.

Start this practice in your family

Want to join us in transforming your family culture and adding beautiful art to your home?

Wall calendars are available ONLY in October/November each year. Specifically October 22nd – November 22nd. They’re sold on pre-order, meaning you must order before the cutoff date to receive your calendar. I make them all in bulk at the end of November. I only make enough to fill these orders and no extras. 

Keep in touch so you don’t miss this month long window!

Stay up to date by joining our email list. You’ll get notified when all the calendar hype is happening 🙂

Join the email list and become part of the calendar crew this year. It might just change your family culture forever.