Sharing
Share the family schedule with grandparents and sitters
Grandparents and sitters can see the family schedule without an account. HouseChief can give a helper a read-only share link. It needs no account, shows no lists or notes, and a parent can turn it off anytime. They open it in any browser on a phone, tablet or computer they already have.
A link for the person who is helping today
A grandparent doing Wednesday pickup, or a sitter covering a date night, needs today and the next day: where the kids are, what time, and what dinner is. They do not need the grocery list, private notes, or the ability to move an event. Sharing a parent's password makes them an editor. A view does not.
HouseChief keeps one household. People who do not live in it are not added as parents. This page is the share link, including a short visit from a sitter. The choice between that link and a subscription into their own calendar app is grandparents and caregivers. The longer walk-through of the link itself is share your family schedule with grandparents.
Make a read-only share link
A parent creates the link. Kids cannot. The link is shown only once, so copy it before you close the window.
Open Settings
Sign in as a parent. The share link lives in Settings, not in a kid's view.
Create the share link
Open Share with family and sitters. Name the link, such as grandparents or Saturday sitter, 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.
Send the link
Copy it and send it by text or email. They do not create an account, and there is no app to install.
They open it in a browser
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. Lists, notes and settings are not on the page, and nothing on it can be changed.
Turn it off when the help is over
Revoke the link in Settings and that page stops working. Make a new one the next time you need it. A standing weekly grandparent may prefer a view-only calendar subscription instead, which is events only.
A sitter's afternoon versus a weekly grandparent
A sitter usually needs a short window: this afternoon, bedtime, and how to reach you. Give the link an end date and turn it off after. A grandparent who helps every week may want the same link with no end, or HouseChief's own events subscribed into the calendar app they already check. Either way, do not put a house alarm code or a medical note in an event title. Say those in person or in a message to that person.
The share page is the schedule. It is not a messaging app, and it is not a way for two households to merge. The family calendar settings are on family calendar.
The Parkers' Wednesday
Sam sends Jordan's dad the read-only link before a Wednesday pickup, and sends the sitter a one-day link for Saturday. He opens it on his phone, sees Maya's practice and dinner, and does not see the grocery list. When Saturday is over, Sam turns the sitter's link off. The grandparent's link stays until the season ends. If you are comparing apps that invite helpers in as members, the dated TimeTree alternative page covers that difference.
Questions
Can grandparents or a sitter see our schedule without an account?
Yes. HouseChief can give a helper a read-only share link to the family schedule. It needs no account, shows no lists or notes, and a parent can turn it off anytime. They open it in any browser. The page is view-only: the next two weeks of the calendar, this week's meals and today's chores. They cannot edit an event.
Can I turn a sitter's link off?
Yes. A parent revokes the link in Settings and the page stops working. You can set an end when you create it: 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, or no end. Make a new link the next time you need one. Kids cannot create or revoke links.