The reasons we homeschool are legion, but it has nothing to do with teachers. This video resonates big time. Reminds me of the Einstein quote: "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." The way we do school in this country is one big #notarule. …
Keeping Kids Safe: Let’s Ban Tag!
In a story that seems ripped from the pages of The Onion, a middle school in Port Washington, New York has banned tag and cartwheels and balls of all sorts in order to cut down on injuries to children during recess. Yet another example of adults ruining everything. And we are one step closer to living in a society where we all wear Nerf clothing and drive on streets paved in Nerf in our Nerf-covered cars to our Nerf-wrapped places of employment. Kind of makes me want to invest in Nerf stock. Back in the day, if you didn't accidentally cut yourself on some sort or metal-edged toy …
My Humble Take On The Hot Halloween Debate
The hot debate in school districts around the country is whether to "Halloween" or not. When I was in school 30 years ago, every class had a Halloween party and the younger kids got to dress up and partake in a Halloween parade throughout the school, which was a super fun treat for everyone. One teacher even had the unique tradition of making homemade donuts in class, complete with sprinkles. It was an awesome time of year. Fun for the sake of fun! Halloween was not so fun for me, though. To be honest, the stress and anxiety started each year about October 1st when the costumes started …
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The Most Adultitis-Ridden Swimming Pool Ever
Here is a good example of how adults are ruining everything. This is a sign at a community pool in Florida, and it inspires so many questions. No breath holding? At a swimming pool?! Or else what? And is willing hyperventilation that common? One can only assume this pool has no diving boards, offers no swimming lessons, and forbids most Olympic-style strokes. Either that or its drowning rate is off the chart! One thing is for sure: rules printed on metal signs bolted to walls are serious business. So is questioning the rules that don't exist. Or in this case, even the ones that …
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Boy Suspended from School for Dressing Up Like…Fruit
In the Adults Are Ruining Everything department, a kid got suspended for running around the field dressed as a banana during halftime of a high school football game. My hero is reporter Pat Collins, who dresses up like a bunch of grapes for the interview. His best line: "When you think about it, you might see their point. It starts with a banana, then all of a sudden you have an apple or an orange and maybe a grape and before you know it, you have FRUIT SALAD at the schools! We can't have that." Hat tip to Mindy …
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Denver Neighborhood Bans Children’s Sidewalk Drawings
Apparently, chalk drawings of hearts and flowers is a "distracting and offensive blight" on a Denver community. The homeowner's association in three-year-old Emerson Cohen's neighborhood has temporarily banned children from drawing on sidewalks, saying "anything that offends, disturbs or interferes with the peaceful enjoyment is not allowed on shared spaces." Yeah, because children's chalk drawings wreak all kinds of havoc on my peaceful enjoyment of pretty much anything. …
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Red Rover Approved Clothing
I collect t-shirts. I love 'em. Except for when I play dress-up at weddings and funerals, I pretty much wear one every single day. I even wear a t-shirt when I speak, which absolutely horrifies my more uptight, more "properly dressed" speaker friends. I have nothing against ties, I just don't want them strangling my neck on a regular basis. As a graphic artist, one of my favorite things to do is design t-shirts. It's one thing for an artist to have someone point out how much they appreciate a particular work, but it's another thing entirely to have them like it enough to actually wear …
Sending a Message to Soda and His Cronies
Has this ever happened to you? It's a dark and stormy night and you're home alone, nestled into the couch watching old movies. The wind is whipping tree branches against the windows, making an eerie scraping sound. You hear a creak that seems to be out of place, and against your better judgement, decide you'd better get up to investigate. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant, 72-ounce Cherry Coke busts down the door, holds you down, and forces every drip of its syrupy evil down your throat. Fortunately, this hasn't happened to me -- yet -- but I'm looking into a new home security system to …
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You Know, We Are Living In A Society
And it is royally screwed up. I just did a Google search on "How to connect with your neighbor." I was trying to find some people who might be interested in the Escape Adulthood show episode in which we shared a fun idea for introducing yourself to a neighbor you might not know very well. I got a bunch of posts about hacking into your neighbor's home network, and at the bottom of the search page, Google suggested these related searches: how to make your neighbors move find criminals your neighborhood find predators your neighborhood find rapist your neighborhood find molesters your …
Rules That Don’t Exist
I love this picture. The boy's name is Henry, the son of a blogger named Sabra, who explained the photo like this: Because some days you should get what you want. That's my explanation for this picture. Henry is wearing the PJ bottoms he begged to keep on, the shoes he insisted on (one a rain boot and the other a pair of sandals). He's eating peanut butter from a spoon and enjoying his binky. Throughout our lives, starting at the very beginning, we are bombarded with rules. Many of which don't exist. …
