Like reading Kim & Jason? The duo is starring in a brand new project called Monsters. Go behind-the-scenes and follow the adventure as it unfolds as a Club K&J member! (Learn more.)
From the monthly archives:
August 2008
We recently started back on the road for a fall filled with speaking gigs. One thing Jason talks about is to “Stop living by rules that don’t exist.” This is a major way to fight your Adultitis. Living by this philosophy is exactly what gives the typical two-year-old the bad rap as “terrible.” In defense of parents of toddlers everywhere, let me point out that two-year-olds are in the business of testing everything, discovering the world around them and how they fit into it… which doesn’t always look pretty. Jason and I joke that inevitably there’s always a two or three-year-old throwing a major fit on the floor in the airport security line stubbornly objecting to take off his shoes for the TSA staff. We smile because they are the only ones who have the naivety (and guts) to stand up to the TSA, even if it is a losing battle. I secretly cheer the toddler on… how I wish I could refuse and throw a fit one of these days!
There is a lesson to be learned from the stubborn naivety of the terrible twos. You must challenge the status quo. Most of the time the “rules” that you insist on following are either insignificant or they simply do not even exist. As I think about our life, I smile at the opportunities when Jason and I have bucked the system, jumped off the conveyer belt of life, and taken our own path. It’s very childlike and with any lesson taken from our younger years, it creates a life of adventure and spunk.
Here are a few examples of how we’ve demonstrated that childlike grit by living by our own rules…
Rule: Get a job with good solid benefits. We ultimately rejected the safe school district insurance for the high deductible life of self-employment.
Rule: After you get married you should invest in a home. We chose to delay owning a home, and decided instead to invest in our business, ultimately gambling our house fund for a lifestyle that we love.
Rule: Professional speakers travel alone and keep a schedule that puts them in and out of cities in a 36-48 hour cycle. We set our own company policies that dictate both of us travel together. We fly in the day before the event and fly out the day after. If we are visiting a new area, we tack on a day or two for sightseeing. (Sidenote: Unfortunately, there is a high divorce rate in the lives of professional speakers, largely in part to their consistent absence from home.)
Rule: If you decide to move somewhere, you should have a job lined up or at least have contacts in the area to help you secure employment. Our first apartment in Madison was cosigned by our parents, because neither one of us had jobs yet. We came to Madison because we felt a strong pull to be here… it didn’t really make sense on paper but it did in our hearts. It’s been home ever since.
Rule: GenXer’s in Madison, Wisconsin must channel their generationally stereotypical cynicism towards the war, the government, and the environment. Jason and I are two of the few proud conservative thirty-somethings in this city.
Rule: You must prepare for childbirth with a doctor and deliver in a hospital. We are thrilled to have found an awesome fit with an excellent team of midwives at the Madison Birth Center.
You get the idea. It’s exciting to observe others breaking the rules as well. Jason’s brother and his wife maintain a lifestyle with two careers and yet only have one car, even though they work in different cities. They share the car, allowing them to save hundreds of dollars every single month. (Rule: You must have a car for each driver.)
Friends of ours sold their newer, four bedroom home and moved into an older, three bedroom home, so that she could quit her job to stay home with their children, avoiding daycare. (Rule: You must have two salaries to provide for your family.)
Here’s the dirty little secret… most people like it when they aren’t the only ones playing it safe, so it’s hard to find others who will challenge you to step out of your box. If someone they know starts rocking the boat, it’s often met with gossip and criticism because it challenges everyone else’s decisions. What a boring life! I’m not advocating you go to the extreme of childishness and shirk all responsibilities just to “make your own path.” Just do yourself and your loved ones a favor by asking yourself some hard and honest questions, “Why do we do things this way? Is this what’s best for me today and down the road?” Ask these questions and have the childlike spunk it takes to jump off the conveyer belt if you’re unhappy with your answers.
So, what rules are you breaking?
The S.W.E.L.L. (Supremely Wonderful & Exciting Loot Lottery) winner for July is Club K&J member Stephanie Nichols! Stephanie, who was randomly selected from the list of Club K&J members, wins free shipping on every single Kim & Jason Lemonade Stand order. And just in time for the busy holiday season that will be here before we know it! Congrats, Stephanie!
Do YOU wanna have a chance to win next month’s S.W.E.L.L. prize? For just $4.95 a month, you can become an official Club K&J subscriber today!
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 set of Men’s Mixter Max Socks. This pack contains 3 single socks. And they don’t match. This not only solves the age-old problem of the disappearing sock, but it also gives you permission to express yourself! Each sock has its own name and number hidden inside the band. They’re made from the finest ingredients: 70% cotton, 20% nylon and 10% spandex (so they don’t fall down). Bet you didn’t know every sock is 200 needle count? (This means they feel good and will last.)
Here’s how to enter:
- Just leave a comment on this post, answering this week’s question: “What’s your theory on what happens to socks that get lost in the dryer?”
- 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.
Good luck! And don’t miss any of the other cool stuff for the young at heart at The Kim & Jason Lemonade Stand!
**UPDATE: This week’s winner was Steven:
Aliens have been experimenting for years, and they have it down to a science. Each time a dryer starts, an alarm goes off in their UFOs, and an alien pushes a button, which sets off a chain reaction, starting all the clothes whirling. They call it aoifb nvaoijkdkhn, which means “sock harvesting” in Anviosdahioian. The whirling action causes one sock from each pair to dematerialize from the dryer and rematerialize on the UFO. (Occasionally, entire pairs have been known to disappear.) Socks are a delicacy on their planet, and they serve them in the palaces and fancy restaurants. It’s thanks to socks that these aliens survive.
Even though this week’s contest is over, you can still buy your very own set of Men’s Mixter Max Socks at the Kim & Jason Lemonade Stand. And stay tuned next week for the next chance to win!
In this episode, brought to you from studio 315 in Madison, Wisconsin, we talk about the Olympics, uncover an interesting distinction between coal miners and office workers, and share 5 tricks for fighting fall frenzy. Just click “Play” to listen to the show…
Show Notes…
• 5 *BONUS* Tips for Fighting Fall Frenzy…
1) Sleep Soundly
Don’t cheat yourself out of sleep. Make sure you’re getting your optimal hours. This is a simple step that goes a long way towards keeping you thinking straight, while maintaining patience and peace amidst an increase in busyness.
2) Unplug the TV
TV is more of a distraction than an asset in times of busyness. Your time will magically multiply if you leave the boob tube off. That doesn’t mean you can’t record (or Tivo) your favorites to watch at another time. Whatever you do, don’t sit down with the remote and surf. That’s one of the biggest time stealers out there.
3) Avoid Big Projects
As you transition into a new time of year, allow yourself to make the actual transition a project. This is not the ideal time to paint a room, start a renovation project, or clean out the closets. Set yourself up for success by increasing your awareness on setting up and maintaining a healthy daily routine.
4) Take a Sick of It Day
Sometimes the best cure for a frantic pace is to stop altogether for a day. Sleep in, go out for lunch, rent a movie, read… whatever fills you up. You can even send yourself flowers, if that’s a pick-me-up for you.
5) Create Calm
In the evenings right before bed, spend some quiet time reflecting on the day and thinking about the next day. Light a candle. Have a treat. Listen to your favorite playlist. Create a calm haven that you can look forward to at the end of a busy day.
• Stressed Office Workers Get Less Sunshine Than Coal Miners (Daily Mail)
• Kim 4 Pres: Check out the buzz Kim is getting in her run for President! (Thanks Steven)
• Happy 50th!: Check out how Judy extended her 50th birthday with a little help from her friends…
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.
• Show Music: Coyote Sleeps by Ethan Elkind
Kitchentertainment: Who Was Best?
Thanks to David D. for the great suggestions!
• Show Length: 34 minutes, 17 seconds
• Shout Outs: A big welcome to all the school teachers from the Madison diocese!
We held an Adultitis Clinic last weekend, and face painting was involved.
It was the first time I have ever attempted face painting, and it was not without its challenges.
One little seven-year-old girl had a specific request, but held back because she figured I wouldn’t know what it was. Well that was all it took to stoke my competitive fires, so I urged her to tell me. Needless to say, I think I became the first face painter in the history of the world to paint a “shuga gliduh” on a little girl’s face.
A sugar glider, as I came to find out, is a small nocturnal animal from Australia, resembling a flying squirrel. She used to have one as a pet. And thanks to the amazing power of the internet, I was able to find a good reference and achieve a pretty darn cute interpretation of a sugar glider, if I do say so myself.
Meanwhile, my Dad and brother got into the spirit as well. We decided it would be interesting to see what my Dad would look like with a good old fashioned Magnum, P.I. mustache. I took great care to blend the brown and white paint, while carefully varying the stroke lengths to craft a pretty dang good facsimile.
Doug decided that he wanted to look like a doodle. You know, the way any newspaper photo of someone’s face looks like after you’ve spent forty-five minutes chitchatting on the telephone.
I regret that I didn’t go for the full effect by painting in a black eye and block out some teeth. (By the way, Katie is sporting a shooting star and my Mom is displaying a tiny cartoon Jason. You know, from that one comic strip.)
We had a blast. But the fun didn’t stop when the Clinic ended. Not by a long shot. In the spirit of Escape Plan Challenge #3, my Dad and youngest brother decided to wear their new-found facial hair out to dinner. I cannot tell you how many secret glances, hidden finger points, and outright stares they got. Especially Doug. At one point my sister-in-law Katie, upon noticing an extended glance from a passing waiter, exclaimed, “It’s okay, you can look at it.”
Sheepishly, he responded, “Well, it seemed like it was painted on, but from a distance you couldn’t tell.”
Between the waitstaff, the cooks, and fellow diners sitting at neighboring tables, I’m quite sure we made a number of people’s nights. The fun continued as we continued on to the mall and to the Apple Store where my Dad ultimately bought his first iPod, before we finally went home and the mustaches were washed away.
My Dad and brother really impressed and inspired me that night. You can’t argue that they did something that could be seen as inappropriate for people of their ages. But you also can’t argue that they inspired a lot of smiles and laughter that evening as well. Something the nightly news can’t lay claim to.
Adultitis has a sneaky way of lulling us into dull, routine-driven ruts. Sometimes it takes something jarring to break us out of our trances to remind us that we don’t always have to take ourselves so darn seriously all the time.
Behold the power of a painted-on mustache.
This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is: #1 Different World: Spend at least 15 minutes immersing yourself in a field you know nothing about.
Something I loved about teaching kindergarten was the genuine openness and enthusiasm the kids had for learning something new. I would joke with Jason after school that I was really more like a salesperson than a
teacher (good practice for our business, I guess). Working with kids is all about “selling it.” Or, as O’Reilly would cringe at “spinning it.” For instance, if I had a math lesson to teach them about greater than and less than (riveting content!), instead of telling them that we were going to have a math lesson, I would ask them if they’d all like to play a game. They would inevitably yell, “YEAH!” Then, I would proceed to turn the math “lesson” into a game… in which monsters were eating garbage… which gave us a chance to talk about the number of things the monsters ate (greater than and less than). It was a fun challenge! Who doesn’t like to talk about garbage eating monsters?
One of the perks about being a grown-up is that you aren’t stuck in a classroom, being forced to learn the objectives that happen to be on the lesson plans for the day. Nope. You are free to learn about what you are interested in. As a kid, you longed for that freedom! The question is… how often do you really take advantage of that freedom? I’m guessing many of you are admitting, “not often.” I know why… busyness. There’s just so much else to do, who has time to stop and learn something new? Between work, family, household chores and paperwork, the last thing you want at the end of the day is to have another thing on your to-do list.
The thing is, re-igniting that childlike curiosity is quite invigorating and contagious. Don’t add it to your long list, replace it with something that’s not as invigorating- like watching the box. This week we’re challenging you to take just 15 minutes to dive into a field you are clueless about. Figure something out. Discover. Be fascinated by something you learn. And most of all, make it fun… just like those eager kindergartners.
If you’re looking for a head-start, check out the site So You Wanna. It’s a great place to exercise your curiosity muscles. Share with us what you learn this week by leaving us a comment on the Escape Plan blog.
Like reading Kim & Jason? The duo is starring in a brand new project called Monsters. Go behind-the-scenes and follow the adventure as it unfolds as a Club K&J member! (Learn more.)
