How to Make a Medicine Spreadsheet Chart on Excel

OK, I admit it. I have trouble remembering to give Malachi his medicine. Even when I do, later I don't remember whether or not I actually did give it to him. Part of this has to do with the fact that his medicines are in liquid form so those cool pill cases don't work for us. Add to the mix a few more caregivers and things get pretty confusing.

So, I created this handy chart and taped it to the back of the medicine cabinet. We are still not at 100 percent compliance, as pharmacists say, but we're getting better! Soon I might actually get ambitious enough to add other medicines and supplements. Woo-hoo!

Here's what you do to make one of your own in about 5 minutes:

1. Open Microsoft Excel. (I actually use Open Office, a free, open-source version of the Microsoft Office suite.)

2. New spreadsheet document.

3. Title in bold at the top.

4. Skip a few lines and start a heading row containing "Date," then each of the medicines. Include their dosage or time of day if that's helpful.

5. In the first column, under "Date," write today's date or whenever you want to start. Then — this is the cool part — click on that cell to highlight it. In the bottom right of the cell, you'll see a black dot. Drag that black dot down the column — about 48 rows for an 8.5 x 11 -inch print out. If your software recognized your input in the first cell as a date, it should copy that pattern to the rest of the cells and complete your timeline.

6. Print and post near your medicine. Check off when you administer the dose. You might even begin to see patterns emerge about when certain behaviors pop up or don't depending on if you forgot!

Enjoy and let me know if it's helpful!

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Looking for a meaningful gift? Dark & Light: A Love Story in Black and White is a beautiful and insightful board book available here. All profits go towards my son's medical needs.