The Founding Fathers...Play Hooky

Nothing says America like hot dogs, bald eagles and our founding father wearing stars and stripes sunnies:

Happy 246 birthday 'Merica!

In this weeks Dadding Newsletter: 

• The Reason You Don’t Have A Hobby

• The Five-Step Art of A Family Dinner Convo

• Why You Should Play Hooky With Your Kids

The Reason You Don't Have A Hobby

If you have 4 minutes go here to find your hobby.

If not, lets 'hobble' through the cliff notes:

Netflix is not a hobby...(Why do I always spend more time browsing for a show than actually watching???)

Don't over complicate it...hobbies don't have to be some complex set of expert activities.  

A hobby can be as simple as a regular bike ride. 

Defining a 'hobby' is key. 

Hobby is Active participation (i.e. Shooting Hoops).  Non-Hobby is Passive participation (i.e. Watching TV). 

Why Hobbies are important: 

They help us achieve flow state...which is like a massage for our brains.  

Here is the science.  

How does one find a hobby you ask?

Return to your childhood...what did you love as a boy? 

Throwing a ball against a wall anyone?

This article is dedicated to those who want a hobby but end up watching TV every night. 

Start small and make tiny changes to increase chances of finding the brain massaging benefits of flow.  

The Five-Step Art of A Family Dinner Convo

What the heck is HiLoFunFailFav??? find out here.

If you don't like clicking links, below is a summary:

Eating Dinner As A Family = Ridiculous Benefits(teaser...higher self esteem is one of the benefits) at least according to those smarties at Harvard. 

If you are like me, your dinner conversations probably go something like this:

Q: How was school today? A: Good

Q: Anything fun happen? A: Nope

Here are the 5 steps to make dinner more engaging and offer a chance encounter with connection:

HiLoFunFailFav - The article gives some great examples but below is the definition:

1. Hi - Highlight of the day - ask 'em what blew their minds

2. Lo- Lowlight of the day - let 'em get emo

3. Fun - What made them ROFL? (if you are like me and need to look it up we saved you the time with a link to the definition in the article)

4. Fail - Failure of the day - A culture where failure is encouraged contributes to future success...(future article material)

5. Fav - Favorite Food/Drink - remember when Wednesdays were hot lunch nugget day?

This is only a tool...take what works...throw away what doesn't.   Don't forget two things:

Pause to give them a chance...(like this epic pause below) I bet your wife squirms more than your kids.

Finally...if they are still struggling...lead by example and model the conversation.  This is also a great way to get your, now squirming, wife involved. 

Why You Should Play Hooky With Your Kids

You can play hooky from the ~3 minute read by following along below: 

Chances are, at least one of your kids doesn't love sitting at a desk all day listening to lecture after lecture.  And it is safe to say, if you are like me, you don't absolutely love every day of your job. 

Obviously, we do what needs to be done...but we don't have to every day! 

This is where a mythical Yearly Hooky Day comes in. 

The Set Up: Shroud it in mystery...No Set Date...No Set Activity.  

The curiosity and excitement will build with your little co-conspirator(s). 

Why A Hooky Day: 

School is important.  It teaches kids the life lesson...every single day you do shit you don't want to do. 

But...

There is magic in an adventure and it is important to break the mundane with a lil' exploration.  

And they will not forget those magical days.  

Interested in more ways to play hooky and connect with your kids?