I missed pajama day again. How do other parents keep up with dress-up days and picture days?
A dress-up day, picture day or spirit week can be a single line inside a long newsletter, so it's easy to skim past. Pull that line out the week it arrives, write it down as a task with a day and a kid, and look at the list the night before.
Connect Gmail, or forward school emails from any inbox to your Daywell address.
What to do
- Read for the costume line. In every school newsletter, look for the words that mean your child has to wear something: pajama, spirit, crazy hair, dress up, color day, picture day, retakes. Read all the way to the bottom.
- Write the task, not the email. "Maya: wear red, Friday" is easier to act on than a forwarded newsletter. Give it a day and a kid, so it can't sit on the list without a date.
- Check the night before. Finding out at 7 a.m. is too late. A two-minute look at tomorrow's list the evening before leaves time to find the pajamas or the team shirt.
- Watch for spirit weeks. A spirit week can be five different asks in one email. Write each day down on its own, not "spirit week" once.
- Picture day has two parts. The day itself, and often an order form or a code with its own deadline. Write both down.
How Daywell helps
Daywell, the family prep assistant, does that reading and list-making for you. It checks who each email is from and its subject to find the school ones, then reads those and lists what to prepare, like "Maya: wear red, Friday". On the iPhone and Android apps, you get one morning reminder at the time you pick. Invite your partner and you both see the same list.
Questions parents ask
The dress-up day was on a paper flyer. How do I add it?
Take a photo or a screenshot, or save the PDF, then share it to Daywell from your phone, or add it in Daywell on the web. Daywell reads it and lists what it asks for.
Will Daywell remind me?
Yes, on the iPhone and Android apps: one quiet reminder each morning, at a time you pick.
I use Outlook or another email, not Gmail. Can I still use Daywell?
Yes. From any inbox, forward school emails to your own Daywell address, one at a time or automatically.
How do I get Daywell?
It's in invite-only early access. Join the waitlist on getdaywell.com and we'll send one email when your spot opens. It's free while in early access.
Does Daywell read all of my email?
No. It looks only at who each email is from and its subject, and skips what Gmail files under Promotions, Social and Forums. It opens the ones it judges to be from school, daycare or activities. If it can't tell from the sender and subject, it opens that one too rather than risk missing it. The privacy policy explains what is kept and for how long.
Sources
Checked by James Boone, Daywell, 26 Oct 2026