The S.W.E.L.L. (Supremely Wonderful & Exciting Loot Lottery) winner for June is Club K&J member Jim Peters! Jim, who was randomly selected from the list of Club K&J members, wins a colorful assortment of 16 Kim & Jason greeting cards. We’re guessing that this prize should save him from having to make any last-minute greeting card runs for at least a little while. Congrats, Jim!
This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is #9: Rebel With a Cause: Do one thing today to support a cause or issue you really care about.
Do you have a cause that tugs at your heart strings so much that it will bring you to tears (or close to it) in the matter of seconds? Whatever that cause or issue is, I hope you’re taking the time to share your gifts and talents in support of it. In the spirit of this week’s tip, I’m going to do the challenge, myself, by sharing with you about something cool happening this week, on a TV near you!
Many of you already know that Jason and I are VERY passionate about the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Serving as volunteers in the Wisconsin chapter, we’ve been able to experience the power of a child’s wish first-hand for the past six years of so. The organization does the work of angels, day in and day out.
This week ESPN is continuing it’s support of MAW for the third year in a row, highlighting sports related wishes in their My Wish series. Click here to watch yesterday’s segment featuring a fourteen-year-old boy named Akeem who is paralyzed from the neck down. His wish was to meet Ben Roethlisberger and to play video games with him. (You’ll never guess who won!) The new MY Wish segments are on each night this week at 6PM ET. They’re on again in the mornings, around 10AM ET. The special attention and care these athletes give is such a priceless gift to kids who’ve had to grow up way too fast.
Tell a friend (or two.. or three) about ESPN’s My Wish segments this week, and let the magic of MAW inspire you, as it has inspired us!
This weekend is Kim & Jason Escape Event #3. It’s an opportunity for every Club K&J member to join together to do something fun and childlike!
The secret messages detailing the unique challenge and new rules have been mailed out, confidential e-mail reminders have been communicated, and the grand prize has been revealed.
Now it’s time for the fun to begin! A full recap will be posted next week.
Club K&J Members:Here’s the secret link to all of the important information you need. Have fun!
Non-Club K&J Members: What are you waiting for? Quit missing out on all the fun, and join this instant! Cost of membership is about the same price as a single gallon of gas in California. Seriously.
We are in need of a used digital camera. Something at least 3 megapixels. I know a lot of people buy new cameras and aren’t quite sure what to do with their old one. If you happen to have a decent camera sitting on the bench with life left in it but nowhere to play, I propose a trade.
If you’d be willing to send it to us (along with the memory card, cables, etc.), we’ll gladly send you a gift certificate to the Kim & Jason Lemonade Stand. Just let me know what denomination you’d need to make it worth your while.
Every Thursday, we pick out one of the cool things from the Kim & Jason Lemonade Stand and give it away. Yep, for free.
This week’s prize is a Super Bouncy Ball Kit. Create your own bounce-tastic balls with this fantastic super bouncy ball kit. This box contains approximately 500 elastic bands and easy step-by-step instructions to help you make your very own bouncy ball. The more bands used, the bigger the bounce, so have some fun with your friends and see who can create the biggest bouncy ball!
Here’s how to enter:
Just leave a comment on this post, answering this week’s question: “What inexpensive item did you have the most fun with when you were a kid?”
Deadline for entries is 11:59 pm CST on the day of the post. We’ll pick a winner from the list of comments on the following Friday.
We’ll contact the winner by e-mail to find out where to send the prize.
PlayDoh. What I loved was that I could blend the colors and make all types of people–or aliens–or flowers, villages, rainbows. You name it. Eventually I learned to make a pretty good cheap replica of Playdoh with flour, water, salt, and food coloring (I think that’s all). My magnum opus was a scale true-color model of the solar system–I put it on a long plank of wood–ten feet at least, with the sun on one end and Pluto as a tiny PlayDoh dot at the other. Bus driver slammed the door on it, breaking it in half! Ugh! Said I was getting too old for PlayDoh, even if it was for a science project. I think I better go out an buy some PlayDoh tomorrow–it’s been way too long and for an icky grown-up reason!
How old were you when you did your first stress-relieving deep breathing exercise?
The NBC station in Charleston, SC recently did a story on the way a local middle school is reacting to the stress levels of their students. They now provide weekly announcements which include deep breathing and positive thinking exercises.
Students of every age are feeling pressure too from high homework loads, to overscheduled days. Cardiologist Dr. John Kennedy says ‘we all have stress in our lives so if you can teach kids to manage it early, we can protect them from the chronic problems of stress later in life.’
Agree?
Sure. Kids should learn how to react to the stress they are feeling. I have no doubt that today’s average middle schooler is quite stressed. Teaching kids to manage stress early is quite a good idea.
Here’s my problem…
This “solution,” although helping the short-term, is like putting gum on a crack in the Hoover Dam. Simply not going to cut it!
You have to go to the root of the problem to eliminate the stressors now before they linger into adulthood. It comes down to lifestyle choices… and honestly, much of this comes down to whether or not parents are setting adequate limits AND consistently enforcing them. How many extracurricular activities are these stressed kids enrolled in? I’ve heard (again and again) the argument that kids should participate in a variety of things so that that they will be well-rounded and have the opportunity to explore new interests that will help them later in life, but if the kids are feeling stressed by their schedule, then the negative effects are outweighing the positive. It’s time to say no to some things.
Then there’s the homework issue. I think schools are overloading kids with homework. Not every school and not every teacher, but I know it’s happening. I saw it when I was teaching. There’s nothing worse than homework that is “busy work”… the thematic crossword puzzles, the school projects that have very little meaning behind them. There’s something to be said for maximizing the seven daytime hours that are already spent in the classroom. It’s almost like we’re training kids to be workaholics, telling them that their daytime work is not enough, that they must also work into the evening. What a strange message to send.
Overall stability in the family is also a key element for a stress-free childhood. Stability comes in many forms. Are the parents frequently stressed? Are they able to eat dinner together with their family on a regular basis? Are they getting a solid night of sleep? How much time are they playing video games, on the phone, or on the computer? Are they able to watch anything they want on TV, being exposed to all of the societal crap that leads to enhanced peer pressure and self-consciousness? They have enough “reality” in the halls of their school, without being influenced by the crap on shows like Rock of Love or America’s Next Top Model.
No, it’s not healthy to shelter kids or force to live a 1950’s life in this naturally fast-paced culture, however I think many kids suffering from stress (Juvenile Adultitis) are missing out on the best parts of being a kid and are being forced to grow up way to quickly.
Our friend Brett continues on his quest to interview people who are passionate about their jobs. He recently posted a video featuring Ray Karam who has one of the most demanding and difficult jobs for Coldstone Creamery.
He’s the Senior Tastemaster. His job is to taste, innovate, and create new flavors of ice cream. He gets paid to eat ice cream. Every. Single. Day.
The short video interview is worth watching, because he shares an important lesson. The people who have the coolest jobs didn’t get there by luck or by accident. The ingredient to success always includes heaping scoops of passion, persistence and old fashioned hard work.
This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is: #10: Memory Maker: Create a memory today with someone you care about that will mean a lot ten years from now.
Last week Jason and I made one such memory. We had the opportunity to tour one of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles. Living in Madison, the official home base of the Weinermobiles, we’ve seen them around town a number of times. We have never had the chance to get a tour, though, from the official Hotdoggers (the team that drive and maintain the 27 foot long hot dogs on wheels). It was definitely a memory that Jason and I will share for well over ten years.
Summer is filled with opportunities to make memories. Whether it’s a baseball game, a pool party, or just grilling out with friends, take the time to slow down to a speed that allows for memory making.
This was one of MANY memories we made in the last seven days. Club K&J members will soon find out why we made so many fun memories last week… stay tuned.
Share with us in the comments of the Escape Plan Blog what you do this week to create a memory that will make you smile in 2018.
The S.W.E.L.L. (Supremely Wonderful & Exciting Loot Lottery) winner for June is Club K&J member Jim Peters! Jim, who was randomly selected from the list of Club K&J members, wins a colorful assortment of 16 Kim & Jason greeting cards. We’re guessing that this prize should save him from having to make any last-minute greeting card runs for at least a little while. Congrats, Jim!
Every Thursday, we pick out one of the cool things from the 
