Task management that fits the family — not the office.
Asana, Linear, and Trello are built for teams of coworkers. Family tasks are different — they're spread across two parents and N kids, they involve dependencies on real-world events ("after soccer practice"), and they often need parent-only versus kid-visible distinctions. Lightstead's family task manager handles all of it: assignments per family member, scheduling against the family calendar, parent-only visibility for sensitive tasks, and bulk operations for the inevitable mid-week schedule shifts.
- Per-memberAssignment — task list per family member, plus family view
- CalendarLinked — tasks tie to events, deadlines auto-surface
- Parent-onlyVisibility — sensitive tasks hidden from kid surfaces
Mom's list, Dad's list, each kid's list — plus family view.
Every family member has their own task list — the parent dashboard shows everyone's lists side-by-side, the kid view shows their own. Tasks can be assigned to a specific member, to multiple ("either parent"), or to no one ("someone please pick this up"). The family view aggregates everything for the parent at-a-glance.
- Per-member task lists
- Multi-assignee tasks
- Unassigned "orphan" pool
- Family-view aggregation
Tasks tie to calendar events — and surface on deadline.
A task can link to a calendar event ("send the field-trip permission slip before the trip"), have its own deadline ("orthodontist call by Friday"), or be open-ended ("plan birthday party"). Linked tasks surface on the parent dashboard when the linked event approaches. Standalone deadline tasks surface a few days out.
- Event-linked tasks
- Standalone deadline tasks
- Open-ended tasks
- Auto-surface 7/3/1 days out
Some tasks aren't for the kids to see.
Some family tasks are parent-only by nature — "talk to the school counselor about Sam," "figure out summer camp finances," "discuss the next pediatrician appointment." Lightstead's task visibility setting marks tasks parent-only so the kid surface doesn't reveal them. The kid view shows their tasks, not parent operations.
- Per-task visibility setting
- Parent-only filter by default
- Sensitive flag for restricted info
- Kid view never sees parent-only
Reschedule the week in 30 seconds.
Family schedules shift constantly — a kid gets sick, a parent has a meeting move, soccer practice cancels for rain. Lightstead's bulk task operations let you reschedule, reassign, or remove multiple tasks at once. Select 5 tasks from Tuesday, drop them on Thursday — done. Better than going one task at a time when life shifts.
- Multi-select task interface
- Bulk reschedule (drag or date picker)
- Bulk reassign between members
- Bulk delete or archive
It works alone — but it's better with the rest.
Common questions.
How is Lightstead's family task manager different from Todoist or Things?
Todoist and Things are personal task managers — one user, one mental model. Lightstead is family-shaped — multiple members, parent-vs-kid visibility, calendar linkage, and an ecosystem of chores, meals, and homeschool records that personal-task apps don't touch. If you want a personal task manager, those are better. If you want family-shaped task management, Lightstead is built for the use case.
Can I assign a task to multiple family members?
Yes — "either parent can pick this up," "the kids together," etc. Multi-assignee tasks complete when any assignee marks them done (or when all do, configurable per task). Unassigned tasks live in the orphan pool — anyone can pick them up.
What's the difference between a task and a chore?
Chores are recurring, kid-focused, point-bearing, parent-reviewed (e.g., "empty dishwasher"). Tasks are one-off, often parent-focused, no point system, no review queue (e.g., "call orthodontist"). The two systems overlap conceptually but have different operational flows. Most families use chores for repeating kid responsibilities and tasks for adult operations.
Can kids see family tasks?
Kids see tasks assigned to them and tasks marked kid-visible. They don't see parent-only tasks. The visibility setting is per-task — a kid's "finish science project" is kid-visible; a parent's "discuss school placement with the principal" is parent-only. The default for parent-created tasks is family-visible; sensitive tasks need to be marked parent-only explicitly.
Do tasks integrate with the calendar?
Yes. Tasks can link to a specific calendar event (so they surface when the event approaches), have their own deadline (which surfaces 7/3/1 days out), or be open-ended. The dashboard shows tasks-due-this-week prominently.
Can I sync family tasks to my work task manager?
Not via direct integration today. Manual copy-paste works (each task has a markdown export). For users who run dedicated work systems (Linear, Asana, Notion), the boundary between family and work task management is intentionally kept — family stays in Lightstead, work stays where work lives.
How does Lightstead handle recurring family tasks?
Recurring tasks ("call grandma every Sunday," "pay the cleaner weekly") use the RRULE format under the hood. Lightstead handles weekly, monthly, and "first Tuesday of every month" patterns. Recurring tasks pre-create the next occurrence as the prior one completes.
Can two parents both manage family tasks?
Yes — both parents are full co-managers of the family workspace. Either can create, assign, complete, or reassign tasks. Activity log shows who did what when, so there's a record of "did you call the school?" "yes, Tuesday at 3pm."
Family task management that fits actual families.
30-day free trial. Per-member lists, calendar-linked tasks, parent-only visibility — all in one household workspace.
Start free trial