Why Ready Set Remember exists
By Ernesto Franco · August 2026
TL;DR: To provide a less chaotic way of leaving the house, for you and your kids.
The need, and the original idea
As a parent of three, I wanted to make sure the kids — and me — were responsible for taking their own things to the many activities they have: school, baseball, ballet, soccer practice, or even a trip to the beach. I wanted something easy to use that lived in one spot.
The idea originally started as its own device: something you would install on your door and charge from there (hopefully, if you had the electrical setup), or that had a battery lasting at least two or three days between charges.
After building a clunky electronic device, it hit me — this was far too complicated and expensive for what I was actually trying to do. That led me to replace the whole standalone device with a simple, free app and a $5 phone holder.
Core functionality and the MVP
I already had the core functionality mapped out, because I had been using pen and paper to recreate part of what I wanted — just without the interactivity and sound a phone can provide.
The way the paper version worked, and ultimately the MVP, is this: have a list of kids; for each kid, assign an activity; and for each activity, assign the list of items we need to carry through the door when we leave the house.
That was it. For the MVP, that was all I needed.
After testing the app with my kids, and having some close friends with kids test it too, we were surprised by how readily the kids took to it — and more importantly, by how they would ask for the app themselves when we parents forgot to get it out before leaving.
For the first time, the chaos of leaving the house for any of our activities had dropped to zero.
The App Store version, and what changed from the MVP
Once I had a working MVP, I decided to add a few things: Apple Calendar integration, a reward system, and a photo gallery for capturing the moment.
The calendar feature reads the events already in your calendar and lets you attach a packing list to any of them, so the right list shows up on the right day. The rewards system is simple: each time an activity is completed, five stars are awarded. You set up the rewards in Settings and give each one a price in stars — anything from a lollipop for five stars to something bigger for a great deal more.
This is the version that is live on the App Store today. I hope it is useful to more people, and that it gives them a little more peace while gathering things on the way out the door. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out at info@readysetremember.com.
Ready Set Remember is free on the App Store, for iPhone.
Download on the App Store