Escape Adulthood

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Lessons From the Guys Who Gave Us Hula Hoops

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 …

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What Does Bill Gates Know That You Don’t?

I am a die-hard Apple dork and I don't much care for anything made by Microsoft. But I have to give Bill Gates credit for at least one thing: he doesn't take himself too seriously. If ever there was a dude who could be expected to take himself seriously, it would be Bill Gates. I mean, the guy is as smart as a whip, changed the face of computing on the planet Earth, and is a gajillionaire to boot. (By the way, whoever decided that whips are smart?) This video from this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) demonstrates Gates fun side, which is often overshadowed by his über-wealthy …

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Pokey Mania

In our speaking programs Jason and I share tons of tips (many from The Escape Plan) to give our audiences realistic ideas to bring back into their busy lives to help them stress less and have more fun. It's one thing to talk about all of this... and it's an entirely different thing to actually do something about it. We love talking to individuals afterwards as they share what action steps they are planning to adopt immediately on their fight against Adultitis. One idea is the game "Hide Pokey." Some of you long-time podcast listeners may remember this from one of our shows in '05. You all …

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Just a Bit of Silliness, Really

On New Year's Day Jason and I played a fun game with our family called Quelf. The game is described as "Insanity in a box!" It was outrageously fun and just plain silly. At one point I had to slow dance with my sister-in-law. We laughed so hard, switching between the "high school" slow dance (girl's hands around the guy's neck and the guy's hands around the girl's waist) versus the "classic" slow dance style. Another wacky thing I had to do was talk like a pirate for about fifteen minutes. Anyone who knows me well knows that my fake accents are way off. Terrible, really. If I had to make …

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You Name It

You've heard of "Name That Tune"? How about "Name That Tree"?! A dear friend shared with me yesterday that every year they get a real Christmas tree. They have the family tradition of naming the tree. One year it was Bruce the Spruce, another year Ralph. This year their tree's name is Leviathan. (I asked her to repeat the name like three times over the phone). Yes, Leviathan. You know, the Greek fabled sea monster! (He's the green freaky guy in the picture.) Do you think there's much Adultitis in their household this holiday season? It's hard to be a stressed-out mess when you look over …

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The 12 Days of Wishmas: Day 10

I'll never forget the shock and awe I experienced the first time I had recess duty for my kindergartners after the first snow. There they were- all of them- sitting in piles of snow eating it, as if the sky had rained down snow cones for all! Their little faces would get so red, after being exposed to the snow that would inevitably miss their mouths (it's hard to aim with huge mitten on!). Edible snowmen. Well, you don't have to risk losing your nose to frostbite to have that much fun. Visitors yesterday were invited to build their own edible snowman. Don't worry, the snow isn't yellow. …

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The 12 Days of Wishmas: Day 6

The snow and ice haven't frozen our fun this week. On the 5th Day of Wishmas our visitors left with smiles on their faces, sticky frosting fingers to lick and sweet candy houses to proudly display on their mantel. Day 6 also exercised the creativity muscles, but this time with some classic construction paper, scissors, Elmer's glue and glitter- making frosty the snowman. There's something very childlike about using simple materials to create something out of nothing. There are endless possibilities... do you go with the classic three circle stock design or mix it up a bit? Should you jazz …

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The 12 Days of Wishmas: Day 4

We had a "snow emergency" in Madison today, which is a fancy way of saying we got pounded with about 6 inches of wet and heavy white stuff. Schools were closed and the traffic was slow... which made the traffic for our 12 Days festivities slow also. I certainly don't blame people for staying inside! By the way, is there anything better than the early morning discovery that school is closed? I had the chance to experience this again as an adult a handful of times, being a teacher. It was glorious! Today's super fun childlike event was "make your own ornament." If you want to give this a try, …

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Shrimp, Snowflakes, and Silliness

When I was little every year for my birthday our family would end up at ShowBiz Pizza, "Where everyone can be a kid." There was never a truer statement. I remember waiting in the ski ball line behind many a grown-up. That place was an experience... the "gourmet" pizza, the dazzling animatronic performers singing their imaginary hearts out, and don't get me started on my favorite games (air hockey) and top notch prizes. It was heaven! I was reminded of our family tradition the other night when my best friend Jaimie and I ventured out to Ginza of Tokyo for her birthday dinner. Little did I …

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The 12 Days of Wishmas: Day 2

We just completed Day 2 of our 12 Days of Wishmas. Today's fun activity was creating paper snowflakes. When's the last time you made one? Many of our customers admitted that it had been decades since their last endeavor creating paper precipitation. I kicked off the day by making one myself, as an example of this creative childhood craft. Little did I know just how uncreative my example would prove to be. Our visitors got pretty fancy, as you can see. I can't wait to hang them in our windows tomorrow. …

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