What do kids know about productivity? Aren't children, what with their sleepy heads and easily distractable attention spans, the epitome of UNproductivity? I guess it all depends on what productivity means to you. Kids actually give us a few clues about how to be really, purposefully productive. 1.) Plan. One important step to productivity is planning. If you wanna get stuff done, you gotta know what stuff you wanna get done. Simple, right? If you want to drive to Pittsburgh, but you've never been to Pittsburgh, chances are you're not going to just hop in your car and start driving. …
Archives for April 2007
Don’t Walk Around the Puddles
If you have one of those anti-bacterial hand gels in your possession, think again. Jason and I have been out and about enjoying spring. The grass is quite green in Madison, which tells you it's been raining a fair share. Spring brings puddles. Puddles bring fun. And wet shoes and socks, which is why at some point in our lives we start walking around them instead of jumping directly into them. What if I told you that getting messy and dirty is actually good for your mental and physical health? …
The Joy of Parenting
by John Gundich I've been able to escape adulthood by having my first child with my wife, Patrizzia. Before Miabella was born, Patrizzia and I would have a rough commute to and from Downtown Chicago every day, work, eat, watch TV to unwind from the stressful commute...and then do it all over again. It was mundane and empty after a while. Then, Miabella entered our lives, and we have both been filled with such joy and life. Every day has been filled with new experiences and laughs. She makes every day special again....like it was when I was a kid. It's not that we will live vicariously …
Simply Amazing
I tried to avoid using such a cheesy title for this post, but gosh darnit, that's the only way I can describe the work of Jeffrey David Montanye. He has combined his photography experience and love for mazes to create intriguing puzzles from photographs. I'm not sure if the guy is a big kid, a veritable genius, or a dude with some serious OCD issues (maybe a little of column A, B, and C). Every maze is made up of hundreds or even thousands of a certain item. Here's the crazy part: the mazes are taken apart immediately after they are built and photographed. You just have to see them for …
Smore Fun
by Kim Kotecki A few years ago for our anniversary, Jason and I rented a cabin at Devil's Lake in Baraboo, WI. We now affectionately refer to that cabin as the hobbit house, as we had to duck to get through the front doorway. Jason and I are tall, but we're not considered giants. One of the things we were really looking forward to doing was building a campfire outside the cabin, gazing up at the stars, and of course making smores. Romantic, right?! It rained the whole weekend. Did I say rained...I mean poured! We ended up reading a few books and getting a lot of rest, but were …
Escape the Ninja Turtle Way
by Katie Richert I never realized I was getting, as I always called it, “old,” and that my childhood (and even young adulthood), was gone until a few days ago. I was sitting in the living room at 11 in the morning, still without a shower while my (as he puts it ALMOST) 4-year-old screamed about being a Ninja Turtle who had “team” and my 3-month-old slept comfortably in his swing. I glanced down at the cup of coffee I had been trying to consume to stay awake after pulling another all-nighter with the littlest guy, and saw the words “MOM” written on the cup. …
Tennis Balls and Adultitis
I saw this photo the other day at This Is Broken. It's a walker, with tennis balls on the feet. I had to stop and think, but yep, I'm pretty sure that EVERY SINGLE WALKER I'VE EVER SEEN has had tennis balls on the feet. (Granted, most of them are green, but that's neither here nor there.) I have lots of questions (Why tennis balls? Who decided tennis balls would do the job? How in the world did the idea spread to every single walker user in the universe?), but the most important question is the one that apparently hasn't been asked. …
Everybody Get in Line
Perhaps some people raised their eyebrows when I suggested in my last post that our American educational system considers curiosity a disease. Well it sure seems like it to me, what with the OVER reliance on standardized tests and the OVER emphasis on fitting everyone into a standardized box. Just the other day I was at a wedding, talking to an old friend who was a relatively new mother. Her daughter is a bit over a year old. I asked my friend what was her favorite part about being a mom. She didn't hesitate with her answer. …
Meet Judy Irené
This month's featured fan is Judy Irené, who was our April Club K&J S.W.E.L.L. prize winner. She shares, "I’m a type A who works really hard to keep the kid and joy in my life. When I discovered Kim & Jason and the Escape Adulthood theme, I knew I had found an ally in living my life to the fullest." • Hometown... I live 1hr north of SF, 30min from the ocean and redwoods surrounded by 200 vineyards and wineries in Santa Rosa, CA. With clients 30-80 miles away, my motto is “Live where you want to, work where you need to. • My biggest dream... …
100 Ways to Get Curious
Curiosity is one of the Eight Secrets. For a multitude of reasons, adults have a hard time being curious. For one, with a few exceptions, the educational system in this country seems to consider curiosity a disease, and they have a twelve-year treatment plan to remedy the situation (with four to six more available if you're having trouble kicking the habit). Meanwhile, most adults are afraid to ask questions because they're too worried about what other people think of them. "They'll all think I'm stupid," goes the thought process. "Everyone else seems to know the answer; I'll just pretend …