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.

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This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is: #5 Mad Scientist: Become a scientist. Conduct a silly experiment.

When I was teaching, it never failed that the kids showed excessive amounts of enthusiasm and interest on the days we were conducting science experiments. There’s something about tapping into that natural childlike curiosity that ignites whole new levels of childlike passion.

It’s so much fun to see the same reactions in grown-ups. The ever so childlike Ellen DeGeneres has found a way to keep her curiosity hopping with her regular guest, Steve Spangler. Steve is all about making learning fun and he shares simple (and outrageous!) experiments that are sure to bring out the kid in all of us. His website is a great resource for maintaining that spirit of inquiry that we had so easily when we were five.

Have a blast getting some inspiration from the science master of fun. You’re sure to get some ideas for this week’s tip.

Share with us in the comments of the Escape Plan blog what silly experiment you had fun with this week.

In the meantime, enjoy this hilarious video of Ellen and Steve. I especially loved the last minute or so when a bunch of the grown-ups were experiencing major childlike giddiness with the climax of his final experiment…

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This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is #15: Taste Bud Conspiracy: Eat something you’ve never had before.

Jason and I are officially guacamole people now. Whoopty-do, you’re saying (especially if you live in CA), but it’s a lesson in trying new things. Over the last year or so we have been in 3-4 social situations where fresh guacamole was the center of attention. Being in small groups, we tried it politely, even though we were sure it was going to taste how it looked- like baby “you know what.” The first few times it was hard to get past the visual bias, and the new chunky texture. By the third and forth time I found myself adding more and more of the green stuff to my chips. Jason did too. Mmm… not bad. We had begun to like it… so much so that we even ordered some at a Mexican restaurant when it was just the two of us. Over spring break Jason got daring and decided to make some homemade guacamole. It’s official… guacamole is now on our list of “likes,” all because we politely tried it a few times.

Think about the things you are surrounded by that others seem to really enjoy and ask yourself, why don’t I like it? Have I given it the ol’ college try? Trying something on 4-5 separate occasions is the key. So, have some fun trying something new this week. Remember, kids are trying new things all of the time… and just because you may have thought something was grody when you were little, doesn’t mean you will think that today… unless of course you’re a member of the Picky Eating Adults Group.

Leave a comment on the Escape Plan Blog to tell us what you tried this week. Bon Appetite!

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This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is #16: Family Tree Trivia: Call or meet with someone in your family and ask them a question you are curious about regarding your family’s history.

A lesson I learned early on from my husband (boyfriend, at the time) is that the easiest way to strengthen a relationship is to ask sincere questions… then shut up and listen to the answers. Anyone who knows Jason knows that if you have more than a three minute conversation with him, you will soon be asked a question that will take the conversation to a whole new level. Questions like, “So, what’s your favorite part about your job?” or “What’s something about your profession that most people would be surprised to find out?” What probably started for reasons associated with a strong disdain for “small-talk” has evolved into a finding that people love to talk about themselves and be listened to. It sure makes interacting a lot more fun when people are enjoying themselves… and not always relying on discussions about the weather or the most recent natural disaster.

Ironically, our family members are often the ones we know the least about, simply because assumptions are made that we already know everything… like how your parents met? Where did they go on their first date or their honeymoon? Moms love sharing details about the day of your birth. Grandmas love sharing details about when your parent was a teenager. There are so many stories to be told!

Asking questions allows for the opportunity to learn and grow closer to the ones you love. Have fun making that call or visit this week. Share with us in the comments of the Escape Plan Blog what you learned by asking a simple and heartfelt question.

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This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is #17: Old Dog, New Tricks: Learn how to do something new today. Your time limit: 30 minutes.

At a speaking gig a few weeks ago, a woman in the audience came to our table afterwards and immediately joined Club K&J. In getting to know her better, we soon realized that she had come to the right place. She shared that not too long ago she signed up for a welding class. Her eyes widened with childlike excitement as she explained further. “Ya know, the sparks, machinery… it’s all kinda like working with fireworks!” (Quick background note: her day job is in service industry with elderly people.) She said she had always wanted to try welding, so she just signed herself up… why not?! One day she shared this news with her coworker and immediately the coworker belittled her and made her feel childish for wanting to try something new, like welding- just because. The coworker suggested, “You should’ve signed up for a class to learn something useful, like gardening.” Our newbie Club K&J member exclaimed, “I don’t even LIKE gardening! Why would I do that?”

What an example for all of us. You don’t always have to have a useful motive behind your curiosity and interests. If you want to work with sparks because you think it’d be fun, then go for it. Isn’t that such Adultitis-ridden thinking… that there must be a “practical purpose” behind every action.

What a bunch of uptight baloney.

When your spirit is allowed to learn new things, then you are open to growth, which is never a bad thing. Sometimes the very best thing you can do, to increase the effectiveness in your current goals, is to get out of your element and try something completely new. Our assimilating brains make connections in ways that we often can’t predict. Maybe the thrilling act of learning to weld will, in the end, help our new friend learn life lessons that will carry over into all of the other areas of her life…. or maybe she’ll just simply have fun. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

I double dog dare you to learn something new this week… something you WANT to learn, not something you should. Leave us a comment on the Escape Plan Blog to share what you learned in your 30 minutes.

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This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is #26: Mr. Smartypants. Open to a random page in the dictionary and look at the first word on the upper left-hand side. Keep turning pages until you find a word you don’t know. See how many times you can use this new word in a sentence today.

As kids we’re natural inventors of words. Jason’s mom loves to recall how as a three and four-year-old he would talk about things “misdappearing.” I knew a lot of preschoolers in my day who loved to eat pasghetti. We are experimenting with words all of the time as kids. As grown-ups we limit ourselves because we don’t want to look dumb, risking that we might use a new word incorrectly.

The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for. -Ludwig Wittgenstein

I’ll be the first to admit that in our relationship, Jason is definitely more of the wordsmith. The other day when I was talking with our dear friend Patty (her picture is on the right hand side of this page), she interjected an impressively big word into the mix. She told me that she was hoping to be able to use that word. She had recently subscribed to Dictionary.com’s “Word of the Day” email list. So, she is basically doing the “Mr. Smartypants” challenge everyday. What childlike fun!

The other day while browsing Barnes & Noble, I found the book “100 Words To Make You Sound Smart.” I picked it up and read a few words… ones I had definitely never heard of before. What a fun book to take this challenge to a whole new level.

So, leave your Adultitis on the curb and step out into a new adventure of words and understanding. Leave a comment on the Escape Plan blog to tell us what new word you learn this week.

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This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week), is #29: Just Like George. Ask an expert something you are curious about in his/her field.

Ironically, two years ago today Jason and I celebrated his 30th birthday by going to see “Curious George” in the theaters. (Yes, today’s Jason’s birthday! Woo Hoo!) That mischievous little monkey can teach us a lot about being more curious. Another animal known for curiosity is the cat.

Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect. - Steven Wright

I have to admit, I’ve always been more of a dog person than a cat lover. I do admire their curious nature, though. As adults we often stop asking “why” (aka the three-year-old’s favorite three letter word). Maybe we’ll look dumb if we ask, or show that we didn’t do our homework. The real danger comes when you stop asking, however.

Take a few moments to think about something you are curious about. Then… ask an expert. People LOVE to share what they are passionate about! The simple task of asking a question can bring about amazing outcomes.

Give it a try this week and share with us in the comments on the Escape Plan blog what you learned from being like George, as you annihilate the Adultitis in your life.

Happy Escaping!

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It’s always sad when someone who impacted your childhood positively passes away. Obviously, parents, grandparents, teachers and coaches top the list. A loss can also be felt when a much-loved television personality (like Fred Rogers) dies. But what about the inventor of your favorite toy?

Rich Knerr, co-founder of the toy company Wham-O, died last Friday, at the age of 82. His partner, Spud Melin passed away in 2002. Their first big hit was the hula hoop, of which 100 million were sold in just two years. That sounds like the makings of a true one-hit wonder, except for the fact that the duo is also responsible for bringing us the Frisbee. And the Super Ball. And Silly String. And the Slip ‘N Slide. Are there lessons we can take away from someone whom we’ve never met, someone whose name we’ve never heard, someone who spent his life making fun things?

Yep.

The first lesson involves the concept of luck. The Wikipedia entry on Wham-O claims that after the success of the hula hoop, “they got lucky again with the Frisbee.” Luck schmuck.

You don’t create a stable of classics with just a pocketful of luck.

The Roman dramatist, philosopher, and politician Seneca said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

Starting out in the Mr. Knerr’s parents’ garage, college buddies Rich Knerr and Spud Melin did a lot of research to find ideas, which often included traveling all over the world. And since they targeted their products for children, they regularly went to playgrounds to reach them. The idea for the Frisbee came at the beach when they saw a building inspector named Fred Morrison tossing around a flying disk he’d invented that he called the Pluto Platter. Knerr and Merlin bought the invention from him, made some tweaks, and changed the name to Frisbee.

The Wham-O founders were always in the mindset of looking for the next great idea. They brainstormed, they researched, and they put themselves in places and situations that increased their chances of reaching their goal. When an opportunity presented itself, like a chance seaside encounter with a guy named Fred and his Pluto Platter, they sprung into action.

According to a New York Times obituary, Mr. Knerr attributed Wham-O’s success to an indefinable mix of serendipity (opportunity) and hard work (preparation). “It took us nearly two years to get the kinks out of the SuperBall before we produced it,” he said in an interview with Popular Science in 1966.

The other lesson to be learned is that fun doesn’t have to be expensive, and it doesn’t have to come at the expense of others. The hula hoop originally sold for 98 cents. A far cry from the several hundred dollars needed to own one of today’s hot video game systems. Or animatronic talking stuffed bears. On the subject of what passes for fun these days, bestselling author and newspaper columnist Mitch Albom made this great observation:

Today, kids’ fun has to be at someone’s expense. Blowing up your opponent is fun. Clobbering your friend in Madden football is fun. Insulting people on MySpace or laughing at a geek on YouTube is fun. You don’t see kid “crazes” anymore — the way SuperBalls or yo-yos were crazes. Today, a kid craze is cell phones or PlayStations. Today, the idea of bouncing a ball seems so incredibly lame, you’d wonder if the kid doing it had problems.

But that’s the thing. We didn’t have problems. Not like they have today. We didn’t dream of torching the school, having sex with our teachers or getting back at enemies by destroying their reputation in cyberspace.

I can’t help but wonder what the world would look like if our sense of fun looked more like it did when hula hoops and frisbees were the must-have Christmas gifts. Is it too simplistic to believe that some of today’s problems have been caused by losing our way in how we have fun?

There’s a pretty good chance you’ve never even heard of Rich Knerr or Spud Melin before today. I hadn’t. Fortunately for us, we’ve been left the fun stuff they created while they lived. But let us not lose sight of the lessons their lives and work taught us: Success has more to do with a strong curiosity and hard work than it does with “luck,” and fun doesn’t need to be expensive or come at the expense of others.

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I admit it. I’m a sucker for those “kids say the darndest things” lists. And I’m not too shameful to admit that I can’t wait to have kids just so I can hear some original stuff firsthand.

My friend Marilyn sent me a list entitled, “Angels Explained By Children.” With the Hollywood writers’ strike going on, maybe producers should just hire kids; the stuff they come up with is often funnier than the pros.

The cool thing is that most of the times kids say something funny, they’re not trying to be.

It’s not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to Heaven, and then there’s still the flight training to go through. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes.
–Matthew, 9

Every time hear or read something funny said by a child, I am reminded by how differently they see the world. And I wish and I strive to think that way too. Why? Well for one, children are clearly the best unintentional comedians in the world.

Angels talk all the way while they’re flying you up to heaven. The main subject is where you went wrong before you got dead.
–Daniel, 9

My guardian angel helps me with math, but he’s not much good for science.
–Henry, 8

They are the best brainstormers because they’re not afraid to look silly while proposing a hypothesis.

When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there’s a tornado.
–Reagan, 10

Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go south for the winter.
–Sara, 6

And they have an innocence and other-worldly wisdom about them that helps them shed slivers of truth on the most complicated mysteries of the human experience.

Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and pets. And if they don’t make the animals get better, they help the child get over it.
–Vicki, 8

My angel is my grandma who died last year. She got a big head start on helping me while she was still down here on earth.
–Lynn, 9

Part of what makes the stuff that comes out of the mouths of babes funny is their limited access to facts. Sometimes I think we could benefit from the same “disadvantage.” How great would it be if, from time to time, we could unlearn what we already know? It’s impossible to calculate how many more breakthroughs we’d see. Because they don’t have all the “facts” suggesting that something can’t be done, kids are more likely to come up with new solutions to old “unsolvable” problems. Just think: how would politics look (or our schools, our health care system, etc.) if people who proposed solutions weren’t drowned out by hordes of status quo fact police saying something can’t be done?

If you want to accomplish anything of significance, you’re going to need to look at things in a new way — with the preposterous curiosity of a child. And you’ll need to prepare yourself for the inevitable onslaught of naysayers.

After all, despite the skepticism of billions of people that came before them, Orville and Wilbur Wright had the audacity to believe that man could fly. What a silly proposition that was.

All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn’t go for it.
–Antonio, 9

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My friend Matt pointed me to a story from reveries.com that matches up with his personal “Hoop and a Stick” theory of raising kids which states that all kids need is a hoop and stick — and certainly nothing that requires batteries — for a good healthy upbringing. Here’s a snippet from the article:

It also turns out that the best way to encourage kids to exercise is simply to “give them a ball, jump-rope or hula hoop” — along with more in the way of “active play time.” That’s according to a report due out in next month’s American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

This gets me thinking about Christmas, and how common it is to see a young child sitting amidst an avalanche of recently unwrapped trendy toys and whiz-bang gadgets while playing with the boxes they came in. It’s easy for us grown-ups to get so caught up in the craze for the latest and greatest that we don’t even know we’re in it. And whether it’s providing them with state of the art playground equipment at school or buying them Billy the Battery Operated Wonder Robot, we end up unconsciously dragging our kids into fray with us.

How fortunate are we that we have little guides that can remind us every once in a while that life is not about the “stuff.” It’s about using our brain (an underrated gift in its own right) and being creatively engaged in our world.

Long live hoops and sticks and cardboard boxes!

Technorati Tags: childhood obesity, exercise, active play time, Christmas presents

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In the newly released Bee Movie (produced by, written by, and starring Jerry Seinfeld), the main character, Barry B. Benson, is applauded for having the perfect report card — all B’s. Kim and I had a chance to see this film over the weekend, and I have to give it all A’s.

What made it most refreshing was the influence of Seinfeld. The king of observational comedy, Jerry’s fingerprints were all over the movie. I expected a lot of bad puns (there were only a few) but time and time again, I was delighted by all of the witty, smart, and thoughtful observations about what life might look like from the perspective of a bee. Somehow it managed to be funny while making perfect sense at the same time. For instance, ever think about how important anger management is to a bee when you consider that the decision to sting is often fatal? Or have you ever wondered what a bee would think about those ubiquitous bear-shaped containers we use to sell honey? It’s insulting, to say the least.

Although his classic TV series often contained an overarching sense of cynicism, this movie almost exclusively displays Seinfeld’s witty charm, naive curiosity, and childlike optimism. The story is just fun, the characters are interesting (if Chris Rock had been in more of it, he’d have stole the show), and the visuals are as stunning as they are whimsically fantastic. I am not a big fan of animation trying to achieve total realism, and Bee Movie does a good job of creating a believable world mixed with cartoony caricature that makes these sorts of movies fun.

I also appreciated that the movie didn’t take itself too seriously, opting for more of a fairly tale styled plot rather than trying to bend over backwards explaining how any of this could really happen in real life. It also offered up an example of how all of nature works together, without being overly preachy (something that I’m getting quite weary of these days.)

You’d probably have to watch the movie three times to get all of the little side jokes. Tie in some themes about dreaming big, delighting in the little things, and asking “why?” and you’ve got a bona fide Adultitis Antitode of a film for the whole family. It’s packed with laughs and a lot of moments that will have you smiling as you think, “Hmm…I never thought of that before.”

Technorati Tags: Bee Movie, Jerry Seinfeld, Dreamworks, animation, movie review

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Here’s another example of whimsy and mirth being interjected into the design of everyday things. And a sneak peek of what might happen if Dr. Seuss had become an architect.

[Hat tip to Daniel]

Technorati Tags: architecture, Dr. Seuss, mirth, design

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