February | 2010 | Escape Adulthood with Kim & Jason

Our Half-Lived Moments

art by jason

Are too many of your moments half-lived?

As a dad, I often find myself fighting the battle between enjoying a moment with Lucy and capturing it on film. One truth that I think slips by most dads and grandpas is this: As nice as it is to record memories to look back on later, photographing a moment is not the same as experiencing it.

While in upstate New York for a speaking engagement, we made some time to visit the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester. Kim and I had been there before, but this was our first time with Lucy. She enjoyed it — as much as a one-year-old can enjoy anything, I suppose. The museum has a pretty neat butterfly exhibit that we wanted to show Lucy. Knowing how cool it would be, I was armed with a camera and video camera locked and loaded. I didn’t want to miss any adorable moments for the “Lucy Archive.“ Continue Reading →

What’s Your Gold Medal?

We’ve had several speaking gigs since the Olympics has started and I’m finding it’s a great conversation piece for people. There seems to be a common denominator of interest: the individual stories and montages. The most inspiring ones are the ones where the Olympian overcame a major adversity to get to where they are today – whether injury, personal defeat, loss of a loved one, or just years of discipline and sacrifice.

If you’re not happy for Shen Xue and Zhao, the Chinese pair skaters (and married couple), who finally won gold, then you may not be human. That’s simply an awesome story! Or Lindsey Vonn skiing through her recent shin injuries (OUCH!) to take the gold on the slopes in downhill, the first American woman to do so — now that’s strength and focus. These stories warm your heart and make you proud of the power of the human spirit. But is this remarkable spirit limited only to athletes or is the Olympics merely a tangible showcase of the spirit we ALL possess? Continue Reading →

Your Life’s Sexy and Exciting Grande Finale

artwork by jason

The end of a fireworks display is always the most exciting. It’s loud, colorful, and frenzied with big, bold activity. That’s how we imagine our lives to look like when we answer the question: What would you do if you only had six months to live?

We’d go down swinging in a spectacular grand finale, of course.

Tour Paris. Take a cruise. Visit the pyramids of Egypt. Climb Mount Everest. Paddle down the Amazon. Run a marathon. Go skydiving. Continue Reading →

Life’s Little Traffic Jams

[This post originally appeared on Dad-O-Matic, a cool site for Dads, by Dads.]

We bought our daughter one of those little primary-colored push car toys for her first birthday. It gets great gas mileage and holds up amazingly well in crashes, of which there have been many so far.

The other day, she got herself caught in a traffic jam. The legs of our counter-height kitchen table and its accompanying chairs gridlocked her into a standstill. With all the might a one-year-old can muster, she pushed and prodded that car in an attempt to break free to the open road.

To no avail. Continue Reading →

How To Stay Sane in A Fast-Paced World

We call people who get our weekly email newsletter Kim & Jason Insiders. Because not only are they the most prominent people in Kim & Jason Nation, but because they get the behind-the-scenes stuff and extra goodies no one else gets. The inside scoop, if you will.

Every weekly issue features an extra bit of something to chew on and a special Adultitis-fighting tip that’s not posted here on the blog. This week’s issue highlights a brand new ebook we just put the finishing touches on. Continue Reading →

The Future of College and The Advantage of the Childlike

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what college will look like when Lucy is ready to graduate high school. It fascinates me, because considering that she’s only fourteen months old as I write this, I only know it will look nothing like it does right now.

Degrees earned online used to be the domain of people looking for a promotion or a new career and already juggling a job and family. But now I’m seeing commercials of college-aged students talking about taking classes online. iTunes U is filled with audio downloads of educational courses from some of the most highly regarded institutions of higher learning. And increasingly, degrees from traditional universities are becoming worth less while costing more than ever. Continue Reading →

You Have 13 Years Left To Live. Go!

photo by pincusvt

This week, Jason, Lucy and I attended the wake of a friend of ours who lived just 13 years. Just by hearing that you may say, “How tragic,” but I would say back to you that actually, Jesse lived morein his 13 years than most people live in 85. Being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he was three, he approached his childhood with an attitude of appreciation for life and persistence that he could (and would) be able to do all of the same things a kid without the disease could do. Continue Reading →

5 Fun Ideas for Valentine’s Day – EA Show #51

In this episode, filmed live from Madison, Wisconsin, we share some fun, childlike ideas to make your Valentine’s Day the sweetest one yet. We also chat about V-Day memories from childhood, including a quick debate over the infamous candy hearts.

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Viddler video.| Subscribe with iTunes | Download (203 MB)

Share Your Thoughts…
What do you think about this month’s show? What’s your favorite childlike movie for Valentine’s Day? Do you have a favorite Valentine’s Day memory from childhood? We’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment below or in the video itself by clicking the little plus sign in the player. Got photos or videos? Send ‘em to eashow@kimandjason.com

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Who Are You Trying to Prove Wrong?

He suffered from ADHD.

His parents got divorced when he was nine.

He didn’t do so hot in school.

And his middle school teacher told him that he’d never be successful.

Nice.

Everybody seems to have their own definition of success, but I’d be hard-pressed to find anyone to dispute that winning 14 Olympic gold medals is a pretty good indicator of success. Admirably, Michael Phelps didn’t use his teacher’s inaccurate opinion as an excuse to shrink back and settle for a life of mediocrity. Instead, he used the words as fuel to drive him, posting them in his locker so he’d see them before and after every practice. Continue Reading →

9 Decisions You Can Make With a Rock, Paper, and Scissors

photo by mike souza

Remember the childhood game that settled every argument? No, not thumb wrestling (or even arm wrestling, for that matter.) I’m referring to “rock-paper-scissors.” Sure, it’s fun to flip a coin or draw straws, but nothing says childhood like this favorite classic.

If you don’t know that rock beats scissors, then you might need to reconnect with your inner 8-year-old and think back to the simpler days of childhood – the days when disputes were so inconsequential that silly hand gesture games could resolve them in less than a minute.

Oh, if only adulthood could be that simple. Continue Reading →