How hard is it to create your own holiday? If you want to be all official about it, you can register your holiday with Chase's Calendar of Events. But even that's not a requirement. A lady I met at a speaking engagement in Orlando told me about her son who lives in San Francisco. In honor of his birthday, he started putting homemade signs up everywhere that said, "June 1st is Pirate's Day." That's it. He put them on trains, telephone poles, and other public hot spots. And sure enough, June 1st came around and people could be spotted wearing eyepatches and various pirate …
Holidays
Five Pin Friday: April Fool’s Day
Here are five pins featuring fun (and relatively harmless) April Fool's Day pranks. 1) Malfunctioning Mouse - Get your cube mate good. 2) Googly Good Morning! - What a great use of googly eyes! (We sell those, by the way.) 3) Post-It Car - Just a little reminder of where they parked their car. 4) Brown E's - A cruel joke for those who were expecting a chocolate fix. 5) Doughnut Seeds - Brilliant! I only wish they worked. Want even more Adultitis-free inspiration?... …
Office Staff Uses Tiny Spoons and Ugly Wrap to Upend Traditional Luncheon
An organization I spoke to last year traditionally celebrates the holidays with a luncheon and gift exchange. Pretty typical stuff. The only problem is that Adultitis LOVES typical. Typical is only a hop, skip and a jump away from a rut, and as Ellen Glasgow says, “The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions.” Fortunately, after hearing one of my programs on Curing Adultitis, Janet Mincks and her team decided to go in a different direction with their holiday party. It has been 4 months since you spoke to us at our All Staff Professional Development Day. What an …
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Bill Murray and a Lesson On Slowing Down
I love this awesome video (via Don Miller) of Bill Murray with some fans. He agreed to slowly walk down a hallway with the guys so they could film it as though they were in one of his movies. It's pretty epic, and goes WAY beyond a simple autograph. https://player.vimeo.com/video/20089652 Here's Don's commentary: It just goes to show you how great life can be if you’re willing to slow down for people. Of course, none of us are Bill Murray, but slowing down for your spouse, your kids or your friends for just a minute to really give them something that will blow their minds is a magical …
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Ornaments, Advent Wreaths and Holy Guacamole
We put our Christmas tree up last weekend. The kids helped out, and by “helped out” I mean dropped hooks on the ground and placed multiple ornaments on a single branch about two feet from the ground. Trimming the tree is one of my favorite traditions in a holiday season filled with them. Most of the ornaments we own have a story behind them, whether it's a souvenir from our travels, or a gift from a grandma, or a memento from our early years of dating. It’s fun strolling down memory lane as each ornament goes up on the tree. Here are a few of our other holiday traditions: I make up …
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#Thankstagram
Baby toes. Ocean sunsets. Cream puffs from the Wisconsin State Fair. These are a few of my favorite things. When we focus on the stuff that's missing from our stories, it's the equivalent of inviting Adultitis into your living room and encouraging him to put up his feet while you prepare him a seven course dinner. I'm just saying that you shouldn't be surprised at how difficult it is to get him to leave at the end of the night. On the other hand, cultivating a sense of gratitude is like slapping a restraining order on the big jerk. As much as I have to be grateful for, I still …
Costumes for a Good Cause
We're in the throes of Halloween Unleashed, our 7th officially-sanctioned Small Rebellion. Your challenge is to wear a costume somewhere unexpected, just for fun. But it can also be for a good cause, too. Elaine Hand loves dressing up in costume. She was in a full-fledged witch costume at a recent speaking program I had in Illinois! (Maybe it's in her blood; her mother was born on Halloween :) The thing that makes her a Champion of Childhood in our book is that she wears costumes all year long! Here's how it started, in Elaine's own words: …
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 Pediatrician with Dozens of Fake IDs
Ellen Leonard is an amazing pediatrician from Connecticut. She is also a Champion of Childhood. It would seem that of all of the world's professions, "pediatrician" would be near the top of the list when it comes to those that are most conducive to wearing Halloween costumes at work. Ellen does every year. While she's not the only person who does, it strikes me that at the hospital she's worked for over 26 years, she is in the minority. Even more notable is the effort she puts into her costumes. She's pictured above dressed as the Man with the Yellow Hat from Curious George. The pants, …
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Small Rebellion #7: Halloween Unleashed
Halloween is exciting for kids and adults, too; Dressing in costume: a thing we all love to do. But why settle for parties or just Trick or Treat? What if you wore one when you went out to eat? Perhaps shopping for groceries or driving car pool; Or serving on jury duty would even be cool. Or maybe while getting your vision corrected; Just wear your costume somewhere unexpected. Adultitis won't like it and people might stare; The rebellion is knowing that you just don't care. Halloween is the best. I love that it's free of the obligatory gift-buying and mountains of stress …
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