Summer is coming to a close, so you need to make the most of these last few weeks. When school starts the harsh reality for most kids is that their small amount of free time will soon be filled with homework, soccer, music lessons, church classes and sleeping. To read more about how overscheduled kids are destined to become perfectionist adults (riddled with Adultitis), check out this article. It's time to cross-reference your recent summertime activities with my list of 11 Things Kids Must Do During Summer. If you would like more ideas, I highly recommend the awesome book, "101 Things …
Play
Songs for Ice Cream Trucks
There's something about the tunes signaling the approach of your friendly neighborhood ice cream man. I don't care if you are seven or forty-seven years old, if you don't experience at least a small tingle of excitement when you hear that high-pitched jingle jangle melody, you are dead inside. Dead, I tell you. Definitely suffering from a full-blown case of Adultitis. So where do ice cream truck drivers get their Pied Piper-like music? I always though that maybe the trucks were custom built by Willy Wonka in a mysterious factory somewhere. I'd like to believe that is still a viable …
Just Don’t Collect Adultitis
We're now just a week away from the BIG MOVE. Next Friday we shall begin loading up a U-Haul and commence moving the Kim & Jason corporate headquarters to a renovated old brick house on the isthmus. I'm excited about the wood floors, skylights, cathedral ceiling, a front porch -- I haven't been able to sleep for three days! There are lots of things to do between now and then. One of the most underrated and thought-intensive aspects of the move revolves around my...buddies (I stole this label from my nieces. They use it to describe all of their tiny character-driven toys.) Like most …
Trash Your TV, Load Up On Legos
I am officially on the record offering my disapproval of "being 40 years-old with no job and still living with your mom so you can spend more time building your Lego town." That being said... I am thoroughly impressed with the photos cartoonist Mark Anderson recently posted from his trip to Brickworld 2007. Wow. Pretty remarkable stuff. I'm not sure how someone would be able to hold down a full time job and create some of this stuff, but then again... …
Making Time for Play
I have a confession to make. Hello, my name is Kim Kotecki and I am addicted to getting my picture taken with fun characters. (both inanimate objects as well as humans, often in costume) I know this could error on the childish side of the spectrum, but I argue that it's my playful childlike side that motivates the addiction. Here's the scenario. Jason and I are out and about and we see a "friend," as I like to call them. I quickly ask him to get the camera and within seconds I have the memory captured forever that will eventually make it's way to the iPhoto files, destined to stay …
I Wish Steve Carell Was My Uncle
Unknowingly something happens between the ages of 25 and 45 where you think you have to be "more serious." I was talking with someone last week who said that the parenting years are the hardest because you have so many responsibilities and have to be the "adult," so that life can remain sane. Ironically, all of the efforts to keep the scale balanced leaves you to one harsh reality...you're now officially boring. "It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we should take seriously." -Peter Ustinov No one starts out wanting to be boring, it just kind of happens. And no one wants to admit …
Stop Drinking the Punch
When's the last time you danced? Not a slow dance with your honey at a coworker's wedding, I'm talking about really dancing. Kick'in your feet up, getting sweaty, not caring about what people might think- kind of dancing? When Jason and I were at Epcot recently, the United Kingdom section had a Beatles tribute band in the evening. It was a hoot! People of all ages, various walks of life, from all different parts of the world, gathered around with smiles on their faces and enjoying the classic tunes. Ironically the people who most likely had never heard the songs before were the ones …
Looking For Some Fun
What's your favorite flavor of ice cream? See if you are in good company... THE 10 MOST POPULAR ICE CREAM FLAVORS 1. Vanilla, 29% 2. Chocolate, 8.9% 3. Butter pecan, 5.3% 4. Strawberry, 5.3% 5. Neapolitan, 4.2% 6. Chocolate chip, 3.9% 7. French vanilla, 3.8% …
The Price of Losing Free Play
In the "Adults Are Ruining Everything" department, it seems that parents, colleges, and even the federal government are passing on their proclivity for busyness and stress to children. How? By threatening free play and unscheduled time. …
Adultitis, Bowling, and Cheese
Adultitis likes to ease you into routines, which ultimately leads to ruts. Once you're in a rut, Adultitis is happy and wants to keep you that way. And while Adultitis is happy, you -- and the people around you -- are not. One of the best (and easiest) ways to stay childlike is to try new things. It keeps YOU fresh and ADULTITIS frustrated. It's fun, it gives you new perspectives on things, and helps you to stay curious. Kim and I tried a new thing last Friday night: mini-bowling. We went with my buddy Phil Gerbyshak (read his article on mixing work and play in the Escape Adulthood …