Summiting Everest

Howdy, friends! This week, many in the US will have the joy of learning about a new and terrifying weather-related term: heat-domes. It’s estimated that by Sunday, about 265 million people in the U.S. are forecast to see air temperatures reach or exceed 90°F. To top it off, Thursday is also the longest day of the year.

So, how do you stay cool in times like these? Unfortunately, ice cream is not the answer. Ice cream is more likely to increase your body temperature than it is to cool it down, so the best piece of advice would be to just give up and eat ice cream anyways 🤷 Stay safe out there!

Activity of the week

When you’re taking care of a kid, you probably think you don’t have time to accomplish some of your bucket list items, like climbing Mount Everest or hiking Patagonia. It’s easy to lose sight of those things you want to achieve because taking care of kids is exhausting and those bucket list items are often too inconvenient at this point in your life.

Well, this activity is a reminder that you are still and will always be capable of doing hard things—you and your kids do hard things all the time.

And even though this activity might seem a little more involved, it serves a purpose for you and your kid. Thanks to 29029, a company that makes “climbing” Mount Everest more accessible to everyone, who inspired this activity.

Alright, let’s jump into it. First, some quick back of the napkin math: the average moderately active person takes around 7,500 steps a day. If you maintain that daily average and live until 80 years of age, you’ll have walked about 216,262,500 steps in your lifetime. Wild!

So, how high could those millions of steps take you? That’s what we’re going to find out.

What you’ll need: a printer plus some printer paper, the internet, and a pen/crayon/marker.

Step 1: Find the distance of a common path you and your kids walk most days of the week (like the walk to school, the walk to the park, the walk to the store). To find out how many miles you travel each time you take that path, use a pedometer or use Google Maps to measure the distance. If you’re using Google Maps, enter your starting point and the ending point of the trip to measure the distance.

Step 2: Make a copy of this Google sheet. Then, in your copy of the Google sheet, enter the distance in miles of your common path from Step 1 in cell B15. Once you’ve entered the distance, you’ll automatically see how many “Common Path” trips are required to travel the distance of each notable high point in the sheet.

Step 3: Print the updated sheet and place it somewhere you and your child can easily access it, like the fridge or a shared cork board.

Step 4: After each “Common Path” trip, have your child add a mark to the “Common Path” trip counter box.

Step 5: Every time you’ve traveled the required number of trips to summit a new peak, have your child check off the appropriate box in Column G and celebrate the milestone however way you’d like. Do not forget to celebrate it! There’s no wrong way to do it.

For example, I’ll be photoshopping my kids’ faces on random pictures of people summiting different peaks from the Google sheet. Then I’ll print the picture and put it on the fridge until the next “summit”.

Step 6 (optional): After summiting a high point, talk about the high point with your kid. Anything is fair game and googling to answer questions is encouraged. Here are some questions you could ask. Where is this high point located? How old is it? Is it near or far from you? Would they like to visit it one day? Why or why not? Where would they go instead? What snacks would you pack for your trip?

And that’s it! You and your kid will be summiting Everest in no time. Hopefully, it’ll spur some conversations about future trips you’ll want to take together.

Book of the week

It’s going to be a scorcher out there and sometimes you just need a change of scenery, preferably one with a big body of water. Hot Dog by Doug Salati is about, well, a city dog that’s hot and won’t stand for it. In other words, it’s the perfect book this time of year for most folks across the US.

Summer means hot days and, for many, it’s a perfect excuse to escape, escape the heat, escape the office, escape some worries or frustrations, if just for a short while. Hot Dog will serve as that respite for kids and adults alike with its lyrical prose, rhythmic cadence, and calming illustrations. Reading Hot Dog is like a timely, cool breeze in the shade on a blistering summer day. We could all use as many cool breezes as we can get!

Not for tots

Here is this week’s not for tots segment where we share some internet finds/treats/toys exclusively for the adults in the room.

  • Now that we’re done pretending dads are so great, we can finally discuss the worst dads in literature. Time to put that humanities degree to use!

Brian Cox, notorious terrible dad from HBO’s “Succession” standing in front of Goya’s painting “Saturn Devouring His Son”. Art imitating art!

Kidult of the week

With 37 days left before the Olympics, it’s the perfect time to discover new athletes to root for, even if they haven’t qualified for the Olympics (yet). That leads us to Eric Holt, our kidult of the week. Eric is the embodiment of what chasing an Olympic dream looks like before the Olympic torch is ever lit.

Eric is the fifth-fastest American man in the 1500m this year and has been running professionally since 2021. This year he has a chance at breaking through to make the US Olympic team. Training for a spot in the Olympics, however, is not what makes Eric the kidult of the week. What does? His dogged persistence.

Running is not a particularly profitable sport for athletes. For Eric, he hasn’t made a penny from running since he isn’t currently sponsored and sponsorships are how many athletes make a living with their sport.

How does he make it work? Eric is supported by his club Empire Elite (which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization) and he buys his own running gear, pays for his own physical therapy, and covers all his own training costs. He was working at a psychiatric center to support his training before leaving to dedicate himself to making the past few Worlds and Olympic teams.

Eric also currently lives with his parents. When asked about his living situation, Eric responded, “My dad is in his 70s so even though I used to be embarrassed by it, I know I get to spend time with my dad in his older ages, and it means a lot to me.”

Eric said he also has a very supportive partner who “pays for every single meal [when we go out]. I told her when I get sponsored, I’ll pay for the meals this time.”

Though Eric hasn’t found a sponsor yet or officially made the US team, he’s chasing his dream and that means he’s already won. See the whole interview with Eric below.

Stat of the week

The AI adoption wave in schools is here. And not only are kids and teachers integrating AI into their work at school, but they’re also enjoying the experience. Seventy percent of K-12 students had a favorable view of AI chatbots. Among undergraduates, that rises to 75%. And among parents, 68% held favorable views of AI chatbots.

The adoption rates in education are higher than currently occurring in the world of work, and it is students, who have a high incentive to get help, who are “dragging teachers along for the ride,” Ethan Mollick of the University of Pennsylvania said.

As always, kids are ahead of the curb. Besides, they know it’s important to submit favorable reviews of their experience with AI since the only way to kill our future overlords will be through kindness.

Thinking about tomorrow, today

Call, don’t text, your parents, friends, and kids whenever possible.

Why? Speech can positively alter human biology.

According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, speech between trusted individuals is capable of reducing levels of salivary cortisol, often considered a biomarker of stress, and increasing levels of urinary oxytocin, a hormone involved in the formation and maintenance of positive relationships.

In the study, three sets of children interacted with their mothers after undergoing a stressor. Children who interacted with their mother over the phone or in person released oxytocin and lower levels of salivary cortisol. Children who sent an instant message to their mother after the stressor did not release oxytocin and maintained high levels of salivary cortisol; their results mirror those of the participants who did not interact with their parents at all after undergoing the stressor.

So remember to call, don’t text, your mom or dad the next time you might need some help. Just make sure to call them when you don’t need help, too. They’ll appreciate it.

Parenting-ish Headlines

We’ll google it for you

What is a “Charli XCX” and why is it everywhere? Timely question, if not poorly phrased.

Before the summer gets fully under way, you should know it’s going to be a Big Brat Summer. What the hell does that even mean? It means that you’ll be hearing a lot of music from UK pop artist Charli XCX, who’s just released her critically-acclaimed album, Brat.  

@charlixcx

BRAT WALL 4EVER

If you don’t recognize her name, you might recognize her music. Charli XCX has been featured on ubiquitous Billboard hits and has written music for top streaming artists including Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s “Señorita”, Icona Pop’s “I Love It”, and Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy”.

After starting her underground DJ-ing career at fourteen years old in London and writing some of the most streamed songs of the last decade, this summer Charli XCX is primed to take over your favorite coffee shop’s speakers with her latest album.

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