How to share your family schedule with grandparents

Why helpers need a view, not a login

A grandparent picking up from practice, or a sitter covering a Tuesday, needs to know who is where and what time dinner is. They do not need the grocery list, the kids' notes, or the ability to move soccer. A shared password is the usual shortcut, and it is a bad one: it cannot be narrowed, and you cannot tell what they changed.

A view-only link solves the pickup question without making them a member of the household. One household stays one household. Helpers look. Parents edit.

Make a read-only share link

1. Open Settings

   A parent creates the link. Kids cannot.

2. Create the share link

   Open Share with family and sitters. Name the link (grandparents, Saturday carpool) and choose how long it works: 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, or no end. Turn on Include synced calendars if a school or team subscription should show. Copy the link and send it by text or email. The link is shown only once, so copy it before you close the window.

3. They open it

   The page loads in any browser. There is no account to create and no app to install. They see the schedule.

4. Turn it off when the week is over

   Revoke the link in Settings and that page stops working. Make a new one the next time you need it.

What they can and cannot see

The page shows the next two weeks of the calendar, meals for the coming week, and today's chores, marked done or not yet. It shows first names, not email addresses. It does not show lists, notes or settings, and nothing on it can be tapped into a change, including a chore. If you need the dates inside Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook instead of a web page, use the separate view-only subscription under Add HouseChief to your calendar app. That feed is events only, for 30 days back and a year ahead, and you can reset it.

A single book, coloring page or puzzle can be shared with its own link if you want a grandparent to read one thing with a kid. That is a different link. It does not open the schedule, and the schedule link does not open it.

A link, or their own calendar app

Use the web link when the helper just needs to look up Saturday. Use the calendar subscription when they live in Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook and want the games sitting next to their own dentist appointment. Both are view-only. Neither one makes them a parent in your household, and neither one shows the grocery list.

Say out loud what the link is for. "This is pickup times, please don't treat it as a group chat" saves a round of texts. If the week changes, you edit HouseChief. Their page follows. You do not have to resend the link unless you revoked it.

Revoke is the whole security model. There is no password to rotate because there is no account. When a sitter's week ends, turn that link off. If you saved one link for "grandparents" and another for "Saturday carpool," you can turn off one and leave the other. Make a fresh link the next time you need it, and send the new one. Old bookmarks stop working.

Carpools and game nights

The same link is how a carpool helper sees Saturday's game without joining the family. Put the game on the calendar (subscribe to the team calendar, or approve the coach's email), then send the link. The winter sports guide walks through that season: team calendars, coach email, helpers, and dinner on home nights.