I just made a brand new coloring sheet to help bring light into this dark time! Feel free to share your finished creations, on your Facebook wall, on your fridge, in your window for passersby to see…I can’t wait to see your version! :)

👉 Download it here.

Get even more free coloring sheets here.

My friend Dave (a recent Adultitis Fighter of the Month) has Mondays off. They started becoming a little stale, so he decided to shake things up. Although he’s an avid traveler, Dave realized that he actually explored very little of his home state of Wisconsin. One day, he pulled out a map, landed on a city named Amherst and set out to make a day of exploring this unfamiliar town. Next week, he went to a city that started with the letter “B” (Babcock), followed by Columbus, and has continued his quest through the alphabet. (He’s currently on “H”.) Most of the towns are quite small, but they all have something interesting about them, whether it’s an old covered bridge, an obscure museum, or a unique little park where he and his dog Lily can hang out. And not surprisingly, these adventures turn out to be pretty economical.

As we settle into the summer here in the northern hemisphere, I thought this was a neat idea worth sharing. It’s proof that you don’t need to jet off to faraway lands to have great adventures. Heck, you don’t even need to travel to live more adventurously. You could add a twist by using the alphabet to instigate an adventure by visiting 26 new restaurants, listening to 26 new bands, or reading 26 new authors, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet.

Ruts are the moldy places where Adultitis likes to fester. Most of us get trapped in one from time to time. But you don’t have to scale mountains or jump out of planes to live an adventurous life. Turning everyday into an adventure is actually quite simple.

Just start with your ABCs.

I am so excited to announce our newest initiative to take down Adultitis!

We call it the Escape Adulthood Adventure Club.

How does it work? Every month, we’ll give you some fun ideas for fighting Adultitis (we call them Small Rebellions). If you do any of them — by yourself, or with friends, family, or co-workers — you can officially consider yourself in the Club! And if you are one of the first 100 people to share your exploits online, we’ll send you a rad sticker (sort of like a modern-day merit badge) for free! The only question is, “Can you collect them all?”

Join a community of freedom fighters making memories, making a difference, and making Adultitis mad.

Click here to discover the first four Small Rebellions and learn how to secure the stickers for each one!

Whenever I get a coffee at Starbucks, and they ask me for my name, I always tell them “Jason.”

While this is completely honest, it’s also completely devoid of fun.

The next time you buy a coffee or put your name in at a restaurant, use a fake name as your alias. It could be a normal sounding name, the name of a fictional character, or something completely unusual like Cantaloupe or Melmac. Just make sure it’s fake!

Of course, you can do this with friends, too. At a conference I was speaking at recently (howdy OAEYC peeps!), two female attendees decided to make the random names that were printed on the side of their Coke can their aliases for the day. “Hilda” and “Kenneth” had a great time with this bit of silliness.

As usual, the simple things are the best ways to add a bit of whimsy to your day. They can make long days go faster, turn annoying customers into afterthoughts, or create memories that last years and years.

Now if you’ll excuse me, Han Solo needs to go get some coffee.

Last week we hosted a live party over on Facebook to celebrate the end of winter. (Winter exacted her revenge by dumping several inches of snow on us a few days later, which obviously proves that Winter has Adultitis.) Anyway, it was a fun and frantic online hangout filled with laughter and lively discussion. One of the topics that came up was spring cleaning. Namely, how to make it more FUN. (Is it even possible?)

You could try what my two-year-old son Ben did last year, which was to just throw everything out the window. Or you could try some of these gems, shared by some fellow Escape Artists:

Crank Up the Music
Many people talked about the power of music to inspire movement and make things more fun. Of course, the style of music is up to you, but 90’s music, 80’s music, dance music, and children’s music were all mentioned as options. And Wendy Whitney Scherer said she prefers Wisconsin Public Radio’s humorous and educational weekend shows.

Dance Like No One’s Watching
Fitbit owners rejoice! Anna Baker pointed out that by dancing, you can kill two birds with one stone by getting in extra steps AND tidying the house.

Reward Yourself
It’s always advisable to treat yourself for completing a less-than-exciting task. It keeps you moving forward and serves as worthy reward once you finish. Robert Bradford suggests eating a doughnut (or chocolate) at every milestone. Angel Bowen’s family goes the “eat ice cream for dinner” route. For Adam Braatz, a whiskey old-fashioned (or three) does the trick. And instead of one delayed reward after it’s all finished, Steve Arnold has a bunch of smaller rewards to enjoy after each, or the least favorite, chores.

Set the Bar Low
Let’s face it, after a long winter, the prospect of “spring” cleaning threatens to turn into “spring/summer/fall” cleaning. Which can make just getting started a challenge. Some folks suggested setting a timer for as few as 15 minutes. If you stop when the timer goes off, at least you’ve accomplished something. And more times than not, your momentum will keep you going!

You vs. You
For the competitive types, you can also use to timer to keep track of how fast you can complete each room. What will be your world record?

Build Characters
Sarah Miner takes things to a whole new level with a costume (and accent or superhero voice to match), and enlisting a crew in cleaning as their costume character. Rewarding a prize for cleanest area helps ensure silliness AND quality!

Go Soap Skating
Another fun idea, shared by Amy Metcalf, is to put on clean socks and step into a bucket of warm soapy water to scrub the kitchen floor with your feet. Needless to say, her kids heartily endorse this strategy.

Fight Evil
Along similar lines, Jen Haviland gives each of her kids a new pair of white tube socks, aka “monkey feet,” and a magic dusting wand, aka a Swiffer duster, and challenges them to see who can capture the most “evil” dirty men. All six kids ages 2-12 love trying to beat mom at getting the bad guys. It makes dusting way more fun when your hands and feet get involved in the competition.

Don’t Sweat It
No matter what, remember that life is for living. A clean house can be a great antidote for Adultitis, but it’s not the most important thing. Karen Spicher Zakin reminded us that spring cleaning can always happen in summer or fall…

Not a bad list, huh? What’s your favorite way to make spring cleaning more fun? Share it in the comments below!

And to make sure you’re the first to know about our NEXT Escape Adulthood LIVE party, become an Insider!

One of the best ways to defeat Adultitis is to set booby traps for it.

An Adultitis Booby Trap is a simple item or routine you incorporate into your life for the purpose of serindipitously reminding yourself to smile, laugh, or take yourself lightly, particularly when Adultitis levels are at their highest.

Our favorite Adultitis Booby Trap involves a tiny penguin eraser called Marty. For many years, we used Gumby’s friend Pokey until we stumbled upon Marty, who reminded us of the hero on the cover of my book), and has since become a champion of dreaming big, ignoring common knowledge, and not waiting for permission. Almost anything can work, but the best candidates are small and waterproof.

The game is a bit like Hide & Seek, except instead of hiding and finding each other, you hide Marty. One person starts out with the task of hiding Marty in a place someone else will eventually find it. The person who finds Marty is then in charge of hiding him again, as the game continues indefinitely. The fun comes when you’re pouring yourself a bowl of cereal, taking a shower, or making copies, and Marty shows up unexpectedly, bringing with him a smile to brighten your day.

See? An Adultitis Booby Trap.

This game rocks because it’s a super simple way to add a bit of playfulness at home or work. Kim and I started this game when we were dating after getting the idea from some college friends.

Our friend Eliz plays this game with her mom, hiding a ceramic hen in each other’s houses. We were sitting at her dining room table one night for dinner and she started laughing hysterically. She had not noticed until just then that the hen was in her china cabinet. Her sneaky mom had put it there over a week before. So fun!

It’s all about adding more fun to your daily routine, easily and inexpensively. And don’t let the simplicity of this game cause you to underestimate its effectiveness. We have received countless reports in the last decade from people all over the world who have been stressing less and having more fun…all because of a “silly” game.

If you decide to adopt Marty yourself, you can pick one up here. Happy hiding!

When you have a map to anywhere and GPS in your pocket, it’s really hard to get lost. I think that’s too bad, because sometimes getting lost can lead to great adventures.

Someone shared the idea of a “Penny Date” with me, and I wanted to pass it along.

The first rule is to get dressed to out and grab a penny. Get in the car and let your partner choose a number between 10 and 20. This will be the number of times you flip the penny. Pull out of the driveway and begin your adventure. Heads is right, Tails is left. Every time you come to an intersection, flip the penny and turn the corresponding direction. Once you get to the number your partner picked at the beginning, stop. Look around. Make a date where you are.

Pretty neat idea, isn’t it? Of course, this could be easily adapted for different scenarios. I regularly go on date nights with my daughter Lucy, and this would work just as well with her. Not to mention outings with the whole family or a couple of friends.

You don’t need a map. Or even a lot of money. You only need a spirit of adventure and a little creativity to have fun wherever you find yourself, just like when you were a kid.

Adultitis be gone!

Hello, Rutville.

Here are four fun but simple tips to make sure Adultitis gets nothing but coal in its stocking this year.

Minivan Express
It’s kind of like Pajama Run meets The Polar Express, and you don’t even need a minivan to play. First, print up some golden tickets (templates here) and hide them under your kids’ pillows. While the normal bedtime routine is underway, prep some popcorn and hot chocolate in coffee mugs (with lids). When the kids discover the golden tickets under their pillows, it’s time to grab some slippers and head for the family vehicle to get their ticket punched. Then, with a soundtrack of Christmas music playing in the background, go for a ride around town looking at neighborhood light displays. You could also plan on stopping by the mall to get pictures taken with Santa or go ice skating if you have a rink nearby.

Ugly Wrap
You’ve heard of Ugly Cookies, right? If you’ve got any kind of a gift exchange planned with the family or at work, stipulate that the gifts be “Ugly Wrapped.” The organization that inspired this idea reported gifts that showed up wrapped with a collection of scrap paper, bubble wrap, and my favorite, a coffee container with small deer antlers on the top as a bow with dryer sheets tied to it. Believe it.

Name That Tree
One of our friends gets a real Christmas tree every year and they always name it. One year it was “Bruce the Spruce,” another year “Ralph” took up residence in their family room. One time they named their tree “Leviathan.” They have fun recalling all of the different trees that have come and gone over the years. I’m not sure why, but naming things that normally don’t have names is a super fun way to escape adulthood.

Christmas Vandalism
A reader once told us about a tradition in her small town to sneak out in the middle of the night and decorate a random bush, shrub, or tree by the side of the road. Part of the fun is to pick a really busy street and not get “caught” by passing cars. She reported that by Christmas, it’s not uncommon to see dozens — if not hundreds! — of decorated trees by the highways. Our world needs more joy, more whimsy, more silliness. This activity begs an important question: If an act of vandalism is done in a spirit of cheerfulness and actually adds or enhances beauty, is it still called vandalism?

What is your favorite way to have fun at Christmastime?

When you’re a kid, dressing up all fancy for dinner is exciting. Although it can be fun for grown-ups too, it doesn’t take long for Adultitis to creep in when one begins to worry about which fork to use or whether or not you have spinach in your teeth. The premise of an Olde Timey Dinner — one of the highlights from the 2014 Escape Adulthood Summit — is to keep the fun and ditch the pretense.

You don’t need to attend an Escape Adulthood Summit to experience the fun of Ye Olde Timey Dinner. Here are some tips for hosting your own:

WHAT to EAT

You can serve whatever you want, but the most important thing is to use the good china. If you need some convincing, read this. Even Kraft Macaroni & Cheese takes on gourmet status when served on fancy plates. (If you don’t have any fancy plates, just put the lights down low and light a few candles — instant fancy!)

If you need some inspiration, we had fun putting a childlike spin on the traditional seven-course format with the following menu:

Appetizer: PB&J Sushi Rolls
Soup: ABC Vegetable Soup
Salad: Fruit Shish-kabob with Drizzled Yogurt Sauce
Sorbet: Dreamsicle
Fish Entree: Fruity Pebbles Encrusted Tilapia with Strawberry-Mango-Jalapeño Salsa and green beans
Meat Entree: Bacon Cheeseburger Slider with house made Potato Chips
Dessert: Key Lime Tart

WHAT to WEAR

Get gussied up! We provided pearl necklaces, top hats, DIY bow ties, feather-adorned flapper girl headbands and fake mustaches for attendees to complement their jeans and t-shirts. Feather boas and long gloves are naturals as well. Nothing wrong with requiring guests to wear real dress-up clothes, if that floats your boat. Of you could challenge people to come outfitted with the fanciest clothes they can find at a second hand store, with the requirement of bringing the receipt as proof.

WHAT to LISTEN TO

Music is an important element of Ye Olde Timey Dinner. We found a collection of hits from the 1920s, which was a perfect soundtrack. You could also dig out some jazz or classical music, depending on what kind of mood you’re looking for.

WHAT to TALK ABOUT

We put tent cards at each table that encouraged diners to pepper their conversations with old fashioned words and phrases. (See top photo.) Frankly, it was one of the best parts of the whole affair. Keep in mind that a thorough understanding of each word is not required. Bonus laughter came when someone blurted out the word nonsensically. You can download the tent cards we used right here. (Just print them on card stock, cut them down the middle, fold ’em in half and you’re good to go.)

So that’s the gist of an Olde Timey Dinner. The goal of this article is to get you started, but we also hope that you put your own spin on the concept and share your ideas in the comments below!

Don’t dilly dally on this opportunity to starve Adultitis. May your shenanigans raise a ruckus to remember!

Our society is over-sanitized. We emphasize order and cleanliness and anti-bacterial EVERYTHING. But when kids do what comes naturally — get messy — good things result. Not only does Adultitis throw a hissy fit, but according to a 2012 report by The National Wildlife Federation, playing in the mud provides benefits to immune systems, hearts and skin, as well as kids’ emotional wellbeing and learning skills.

According to Dr. Joel Weinstock, director of gastroenterology and hepatology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, “Children raised in an ultraclean environment are not being exposed to organisms that help them develop appropriate immune regulatory circuits.” For their own benefit, Dr. Weinstock argues, “Children should go barefoot in the dirt, play in the dirt and not have to wash hands when they come in to eat.”

In addition to Adultitis prevention and health benefits, messes are an especially effective way to create memories with the people you love. (Not to mention the awesome photo ops!) Here are five magical ways to turn messes into memories:

Mud Day

A while back, a teacher at a childcare center told me that they had celebrated International Mud Day. Flyers were sent out ahead of time instructing the parents to pack an extra set of old clothes (including underwear!). On the big day, they used a garden hose to transform a dirty patch of ground into a glorious mud hole and gave the kids permission to go crazy. The children rolled around in the mud and squealed in delight as they covered their teachers in the brown slime.

I was smitten by the concept, and was so happy to learn that International Mud Day is a real thing. This year’s day of splashing, rolling, squishing, sliding, making mud pies is June 29th.

For more photos, resources, and the history of International Mud Day, go here.

For an afternoon that won’t soon be forgotten, just add mud.

Flour Game

Get a teacup or small bowl and pack it tight with flour. Regular, white flour. Flip the cup over onto a plate, remove it, and carefully place a Lifesaver candy on top. (Some people use a coin of some sort, but candy is better in every way.) Then everyone takes turns cutting the flour with a knife, taking care not to disturb the Lifesaver. The person who makes the Lifesaver fall has to fish it out with their mouth. No hands — or feet — allowed.

It is a game in search of an occasion. It’s perfect for birthdays, Christmas parties, even National Flour Month, which is March, in case you’re wondering.

Big Top Living Room

Build an extravagant and elaborate living room fort. Every kid has made a simple, makeshift fort with sheets and blankets, but there’s no doubt the experience and know-how of an adult can add a lot to the party. What extravagant, elaborate fort could you create with clips, clamps, rope, rubber bands, bungee cords, and duct tape? Think multiple rooms, secret passageways, and maybe even different levels!

Our friend Scott used a canceled flight as an opportunity to spend the entire day in his hotel room making an impressive fort of epic proportions, utilizing mattresses, end tables, sheets and bed spreads. If you do this one right, it should take you one or more hours to complete. When you’re finished, bask in the glory of your accomplishment by watching a movie or having a picnic inside.

Barbarian Spaghetti

Next time you have spaghetti…don’t use plates. Just plop the spaghetti in the middle of the table, and have the meal participants pull their portions toward themselves. If you want to keep the messiness to a minimum, make sure to use a plastic tablecloth and clean up will be a breeze!

Now, would the idea of Barbarian Spaghetti make Martha Stewart hyperventilate and possibly slip into a coma? Probably.

Is it messy and cheap and simple and silly and childlike and fun?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.

And what are the odds that the participants will have created a scene they will not soon forget?

Exactly.

Dinner of Bad Manners

Host a dinner in which good manners are strictly forbidden.

That’s right, forbidden.

Anything goes. Elbows on the table. Napkins optional. Burping welcome. Slurping your spaghetti. Talking with a mouthful of meatballs. Rudely demanding for the peas to be passed pronto.

As you might imagine, the kids reeally look forward to this. And I’d bet my last dollar the parents do, too. Even though Miss Manners might flip her lid, we all need permission from time to time to take a break from the rules, blow off some steam, and not take ourselves so seriously. And who knows? You could actually turn it into a teachable moment about why good manners are important.

Your turn: What’s your favorite idea for turing a mess into a memory?

If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you certainly know of our proclivity for Ugly Treats. We wholeheartedly encourage people to make disgusting-looking cookies, cakes, and other desserts…just for fun.

Well, an astute reader recently reminded me that dessert doesn’t have to be the only food group up for an ugly makeover. She pointed me to an article highlighting 21 Truly Upsetting Vintage Recipes. Below are a few of my favorites:

Liver Sausage Pineapple

Imagine mixing together liver sausage, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, mayonnaise and gelatin into the shape of a pineapple. Then imagine the people you made it for hating you forever.

Monterey Soufflé Salad

This one looks totally great; I’m just not a fan of pimentos. Or mixing seafood and lemon Jell-O. But that’s just me.

Super Salad Loaf

If you want to be happy when company comes…then don’t make this.

Granted, each of these dishes look like they’ve been beaten repeatedly with the ugly stick. The truly upsetting aspect is that none of theme are intended to be so. These are real, legitimate recipes developed by sincere, well-intentioned (and possibly blind) people.

However, there’s nothing saying you can’t change that intention.

What if you had a dinner party featuring ugly cookies that was proceeded by an ugly main course? You could take and use these exact recipes as your guide!

Just remember, treat gelatin as the workhorse it is!

While there is a chance no one will have an appetite by the time you unveil what’s for dinner, one thing is certain: Adultitis will find another home to occupy on that day!

About once a month, the parents would pull out a bunch of unusual kitchen utensils and pile them on the table. Things like spatulas, spaghetti forks, soup ladles, whisks, potato mashers and giant serving spoons were on display. Each child was instructed to select one item from the pile.

And then they would have to eat their entire dinner using just that utensil.

To make things even more interesting, the mother kept the dinner menu a secret.

This is an idea that I got from an elderly couple in Virginia several years back. Their kids loved it so much, that now that they’re older, they do it with the grandkids. We’ve fondly nicknamed it “Spatula City.”

It’s a simple concept, really. But as usual, the best ones usually are.

If you’ve ever been to one of my speaking programs, you’ve probably heard this idea. The big question is, have you tried it?

This is a wonderful April Fool’s Day prank that’s fun to do all year long. Just be aware of the national emergency you will cause for everyone around you.

Well, some people will not even notice. But the ones who do are likely to drive miles — I mean MILES, people — out of their way to let you know that you have Taco Bell on the top of your car. Of course, you and the people driving with you have the task of acting clueless. That’s part of the fun (and a challenge).

One guy reported to me that it’s the perfect way to occupy kids on long road trips. They love watching the reactions of other drivers!

One thing’s for sure, there’s no easier or cheaper way to have fun in any economy than “Sticky Cup.”

I spend a lot of time in airports. Airports are like kids. They can be a CAUSE of Adultitis or they can be a CURE for Adultitis.

It all depends on your approach.

Sara Alvarado LOVES airports. She gets a kick out of watching all the people with Adultitis freak out over stuff that in the grand scheme of things, don’t really matter. On a recent visit to the Denver Airport, Sara and her son Leo bought some silly putty and did a little redecorating to some advertisements hanging on the wall.

It doesn’t take much to ground Adultitis. Lucky for us, we have people like Sara to show us how easy (and fun) it can be.

A Champion of Childhood is someone instilled with the soaring spirit of childhood who rallies against rules that don’t exist while engaging in ruthless, senseless acts of silliness that undermine the slavery of Adultitis and its unadventurous version of adulthood. We like shining a light upon the most remarkable among us, holding them up as a dazzling example of what we should strive for in this epic battle against Adultitis. See more here.

Adultitis was kicking our butt.

It had been exactly a month since Virginia Rose was born. A good month, to be sure, but also a long one. Weary of the bitter cold weather, our entire family was tired of being cooped up, and the older two kids were passing time by pushing our buttons. Two-year-old Ben had a streak of purple under his nose, a colorful souvenir from “smelling” the markers we used to keep him quiet. Although we pined for an afternoon at a Florida beach, it was decided that going out to lunch was the best we could hope for today.

As I went to wipe the marker from Ben’s face, Kim made some comment about him looking a bit like Hitler. Then she said, “I wish we could just draw mustaches on our kids, wouldn’t that be awesome?”

“It would be,” I agreed.

“Why don’t we?” she asked.

I could tell by her tone that she was kind of serious. And so I paused to ponder a serious response.

“Because of what other people might think,” I answered.

Before I even finished the sentence, I knew what I had to do.

“Give me that purple marker,” I said. After glancing to confirm it was the washable variety, I removed the cap and called Ben over. Then I drew a bold and curly mustache on my son. Although he cooperated, it’s fair to say he had no idea what I was doing.

“Ok.” I proclaimed. “NOW, let’s go to lunch.

And we did, with our purple mustachioed son in tow.

It did garner some attention. No calls from DCFS, as Adultitis had warned. Instead, the people who noticed universally responded with smiles of delight at my oblivious son who looked like a tiny ringleader in a circus sponsored by Willy Wonka. And it was awesome.

Here’s a tip: If you are faced with an opportunity to do something, and the only reason you don’t is because of what someone else might think, you can be certain that Adultitis is up to no good. If you are serious about winning this war, and you are desirous of living an amazing story, you must do that very thing, without hesitation. You must.

Family with spring fever and three kids, five and under: 1, Adultitis: 0.

Share a time when YOU did something fun without regard to what other people might think. Leave a comment below!

With summer saying sayonara, my speaking schedule is back into full swing. One of my favorite parts is talking to people afterwards, and hearing the neat things they do for fun with friends and family. In fact, many of the ideas I share in my presentations, including Sticky Cup, Pajama Run, and Spatula City are from audience members.

One of my fatal flaws is forgetting to write them down. I always think I’ll remember them, but do I? Nope. Well I’m happy to report that I’ve been a bit more consistent of late, and wanted to share some recent gems:

Green Eggs & Ham Dinner. I have always loved the idea of using food coloring to turn dinnertime on its ear, and making green eggs and ham is a popular favorite. A woman shared a twist they include on their regular Suess-themed meals: everyone has to speak in rhyme. Brilliant! “You asked me to pass the salt, so spilling the milk was not my fault…”

Sweet 60 Birthday Party. They say that youth is wasted on the young. Why should they have all the fun? You’ve heard of a “Sweet Sixteen” party, right? If you know someone who is turning the big six-oh, why not do what one woman from Green Bay did: throw a “Sweet 60” party. From what I heard, it featured a lot of personalized treats, a fancy princess dress and even a tiara.

$5 Formal Day. The same woman, I’m pretty sure her name was Sue, also told me about a regular tradition she has with friends. Everyone goes to a thrift store with a budget of five clams and picks out a formal outfit to wear for the whole day. (Sue has three old wedding dresses in her collection.) The day concludes with a nice dinner out, where everyone comes dressed to the nines. (Or at least the fives.)

Silly Soap Opera. We’ve already shared the idea of flipping to a soap opera, hitting mute, and doing your own silly voice over. (A game that may be even more fun with a group of adults and a bottle of wine than it is with kids.) But an often overlooked wrinkle is how the type of show you choose can greatly alter the direction (and hilarity!) of the game. A lady suggested tuning in to Duck Dynasty to get her husband to join in, and also surmised that a home renovation show on HGTV would also offer up some silly scenarios to play with. Indeed!

Taco Tuesday. Barbarian Spaghetti was a big hit at this year’s Escape Adulthood Summit. This is a meal where spaghetti is served sans plates. (Silverware is optional :) But you can expand your horizons beyond marinara-soaked pasta. Amy recently instituted Taco Tuesdays, which was such a hit the kids have requested it a weekly standard. There are all sorts of foods that, when served without plates, lend themselves to a special brand of fun (mashed potato Mondays, anyone?).

The memories you will treasure most from this year will be the things that happened outside the normal routine of everyday life. Try one of these simple ideas and make a scene with the people you care about!

What are some of the favorite things YOU like to do with your friends and family? Share them in the comments!

Matt Haas has already been designated an official Champion of Childhood, but here’s another reason why he deserves the honor:

In my (childish) mind, there is little in this world that is more fun, joyous and just plain silly than giving someone a bath in warm towels. No, this is not a typo. We all have had to take baths and then use a towel. But if you have never had a bath in warm towels then you still have some Adultitis that needs to be scrubbed off.

Here’s how it works: Take an entire load of still-warm towels fresh from the dryer and bring them to the nearest couch or chair. Look for the person who most likely needs a hug, smile or giggle and gently distribute the entire load of towels on them making sure to cover them in their entirely, leaving only a small area for them to breathe freely. Stand by for the inevitable euphoric groans as the heat embraces their entire body. Be prepared for the inevitable wiggling and make sure you redistribute towels to cover any exposed areas. Lastly make sure you rotate the towels as they cool to make ensure maximum heat transfer. The end results will assuredly be at a minimum a smile with the potential for an unplanned nap.

Hmmm…a bath in warm towels. A novel concept and almost certain to be a cure for what ails ya. Nice tip, Matt!

A giant one that’s ten feet long, of course!

Banana splits are pretty good at thwarting Adultitis. But 10-foot banana splits have been known to give Adultitis the hives.

If you wanna make one for your next party, they seem pretty easy to put together. This tutorial uses a carpet tube and this one uses a simple rain gutter (both were covered in heavy duty aluminum foil.)

If you wanna go crazy, eat it for dinner.

If you wanna go easy on the waistline, try these Banana Split Bites instead.

Photo from OhHappyDay

Wait…you weren’t?

A woman at a recent speaking gig shared with me a neat family tradition that I had to pass along. She grew up in Connecticut, and every year, on the first day of spring, her father would “kidnap” his kids and play hooky. They’d all load into the car as usual, but he’d eventually take a “wrong turn,” and they’d never quite make it to school. One time, he took them sledding to take advantage of a new blanket of snow on the ground. Another time they ended up at the Statue of Liberty. Since it was a weekday (and a rainy one at that), the crowds were light and they were able to ascend to the top without any waiting.

It reminds me of the dad who took his kids to the circus instead of taking them to school.

Don’t get me wrong. I think that a parent’s first job is to model consistency and instill responsibility in their children. That there is a need for people like the Supernanny is a crying shame.

But I also think it’s important to create scenes with your kids. And one of the best ways to do that is by breaking a rule, starting a small rebellion, and just playing hooky once in a while.

Of course, one needn’t have kids, or even grandkids for that matter, in order to break a rule and create a scene. We ALL need a day to play hooky once in a while.

You can call it a mental health day or a “sick of it” day, if that helps.

This Wednesday is the first day of spring. How will you celebrate it?

P.S. Like the Statue of Liberty art above? You can get it as a print, available in vanilla or chocolate. :)

Training began about a month ago. Perhaps that wasn’t enough time to prepare, especially if you have a hard time jogging around the block without feeling like you have to hurl. But Kim and I had each other to hold ourselves accountable and, as you can see from the photo above, Kim was all business.

She had some help from Lucy, who provided moral support and coaching.

Ben, on the other hand, seemed content to play the role of little devil on the shoulder. Here he his tempting Kim to take a little break.

I chose a more unorthodox race day preparation routine.

Perhaps you have heard of the Iron Man Triathlon? Well, I am convinced that it’s a race for wimps, particularly compared to the Run Free Race, which we ran in temps that felt like -4º. It may not have been the best choice for a first marathon.

Despite Ben’s best attempts, Kim was well-prepared and ran a strong race. Here she is at around mile number 18:

Afterward, she admitted that her best tip was staying hydrated.

Kim ended up finishing in an impressive 3:13, good enough to qualify her for the Boston Marathon, if she wanted to run it. I will admit that I had a more difficult go of it. But I did finish. Here is me trying not to overheat.

All in all, this recent addition to our Bucket Lists ended up being a great experience. Would I do it again?

Possibly.

But I’d probably need two jars of pre-race peanut butter next time.

Oh, as you may have figured out by now, the Run Free Race (and much of this post) was almost entirely fake. It truly was “the greatest race that never was.” But it begs the question: can anything really be called “fake” if thousands of people are doing it too?

One thing’s for sure. It definitely was ridiculo.us.