When Family Happens
I have a chicken. I like to raise a couple of them because they provide us with fresh eggs and great fertilizer for the garden. Normally the chickens are pretty … Read more
Risk Should be Child’s Play
Just last week, I was invited by a local middle school to speak to 8th graders on the topic of risk. A fitting audience, since I consider the middle school … Read more
Bringing Home Peanut
Last October, my wife and I arrived at an orphanage called Future Hope in Xiaman, China. We had traveled 16 hours with a good friend of ours who introduced us to … Read more
Online Cyberbullying Just Got Way Easier
My kids’ school district brought to our attention a specific social media app that has filtered down from college campuses to our High School and making its way to Middle … Read more
It’s Time We Start
The following post is taken from the Keynote Address to Kidventure employees at 2014 Orientation Time is this crazy abstract thing. It organizes our day and it defines our physical … Read more
Parenting’s Familiar Face: Update From China
It’s midday on a Thursday in Mainland China. This morning, I took a break from presentations and Chinese style buffets to visit nearby Macau. Macau is an incredibly fascinating city … Read more
The Beginning of a New Adventure: China
This Sunday, I will be flying to Hong Kong. At my side will be my friend, Tommy Broyles, Professor of Law at the University of Texas. Together, we will be … Read more
More Than Just a Camp
Dear Family, In a month, school will be out and the time honored American tradition of summer will warmly be upon us. This is a particularly special year for Kidventure as … Read more
Mom, A Rock-n-Roll Drummer and a Washer and Dryer
If you had to list out the most tireless and thankless jobs, Mom would have to be towards the top. From the day they start ‘on the job’ a mom’s … Read more
Five Reasons You and Your Kids Should Grow A Garden
I have a garden. In it we grow things like broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, strawberries and spinach, to name a few. My kids help me plant a little something here … Read more
Run With a Lion This Saturday
This Saturday in Austin, Texas a lot of the community is coming out to run with a lion. In this case the … Read more
For Better or Worse: 5 Things Your Kids Will Probably Never Do That You Did
The other day the phone book was delivered to my doorstep. Remember the phone book? It used to be an essential repository of information when looking up a phone number … Read more
Kidventure Camp in China 2014
After 20 years of running a summer camp business, the last place I probably ever thought of playing capture the flag or roasting marshmallows with campers would be in China. … Read more
Always Fight for Them
This past Tuesday evening I entered Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston to visit some new-found friends of mine who have been faced with a tough life challenge. I walked out … Read more
Ping Pong, Humility and Bigger Life Lessons
Sunday evening I was beaten by my 13 year old boy at ping pong. He has never beaten me at ping pong. He beat me four games in a row. … Read more
Give Your Kid the Greatest Gift This Holiday…Your Time
Time. It seems like we have less of it with every passing year. As a parent, time can be our best friend or our worst nemesis and too often we … Read more
The Demise of Play
Okay, maybe I’m old fashioned. Maybe I am not as progressive as others. Nevertheless, the term ‘play date’ has got to be one of the most frustrating and confusing word … Read more
The Force is Strong in Mom
There is a Force. A balance if you will, that oversees the universe and keeps our planet from careening off into the fiery gasses of our molten sun. This Force … Read more
A Case for Why Everyone Benefits from Special Needs Kids
This coming summer my organization,Kidventure, will initiate a summer camp pilot program called Voyager that provides a mainstreamed camp for kids with … Read more
When 12 Year Old Boys Have Something to Teach You
As parents we work hard to teach our kids to be good, wholesome young people. We insist they say thank you, clean up after themselves, and promise not to fight … Read more
We All Share in a Solution
As for so many, the tragedy in Newtown, CT has dominated my thoughts and prayers. Yet, the answers will not be found solely at the federal level, it must be … Read more
Serve Your Kids Some Humble Pie and Teach Them to Be Thankful
Let’s face it, for most of us reading this blog, we’ve got it good. Even when we think we might not, the overwhelming majority of the world faces far greater … Read more
Four for Four Years: Parenting Lessons For Our Elected Officials
Whether you are Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal, being a parent trumps everything Washington can offer up. And if you are like me, as much as you are proud … Read more
Are We Tending To Our Kids’ Roots?
An old man hired a young man to come and help him build an orchard on a mountain. They divided the land into halves, each responsible for growing and caring … Read more
The Camp Counselor vs. the Intern
The following article was published in The New York Times today, May 30th. Like teachers, we so often undervalue those that have some of the greatest impact and impression on … Read more
Big Challenges, Small Solutions
I think often that some of the most important lessons in life come not from inspirational speakers, therapists and yoga instructors, but from kids. Perhaps it is the way they … Read more
The Wrath of Mom Makes Nice Kolaches
I love kolaches. What I have not been a huge fan of is getting my kids off to school during the week. For some time now, that process from waking … Read more
Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms
I have recently served on a steering committee for my school district created to bring together my community to discuss education, its future and how we go about creating a … Read more
Video Game Addiction: Redirecting the Virtual Generation
Introduction by Mike: One of the focuses for my company Kidventure has been to become a greater resource for parents and children. I believe that running summer camps for 18 … Read more
The Real Batman A Hero for Kids With Cancer
Every once in a while you come across a story that provides enduring faith in fellow mankind. I read the following article (extracted) from the Washington Post posted online March … Read more
Life Without Sportscenter and Phineas and Ferb: The Update
It has been one month since we pulled the plug on cable TV in the McDonell home. … Read more
Day 2: The Meltdown
Yesterday I arrived home from work. As fate would have it, the kids had been out with … Read more
We Did It. Goodbye Snooki
My wife and I made a decision to cut the ties of cable television. Beginning today the … Read more
Reality Check from Uganda
For the second year in a row, our family had the honor of hosting two children from … Read more
15 Minutes of Recess…Are You Kidding Me?
For the record, I love my kid’s elementary school. Having begun this blog with that kind of preface, you have to have a feeling I am about to rear back … Read more
What if We Ate All Our Kids’ Halloween Candy
I don’t know about you, but I have been guilty of sneaking some of the kid’s candy after Halloween. Personally, I am partial to the Kit-Kats and peanut M&M’s. What … Read more
7 Connections with Your Kid
I have three kids, ages 6, 11 and 14. Each is a unique and individual representation of their mother and father’s DNA. Moreover, each of my kids possesses their own … Read more
Cowboy Blues
I Recently wrote lyrics to the following song for my band Audioroad. Thought I would share. Cowboy Blues (Lyrics) … Read more
A Wedding and a Funeral
I’ve got to be honest with you, I’m not normally a huge fan of weddings and no one looks forward to going to a funeral. My own wedding was of … Read more
From Burma to the ATX
Burma is a country in Southeast Asia. It’s rogue government identifies itself as Myanmar, but many countries such as ours have chosen not to identify as such due to a … Read more
The secret life of kids online: What you need to know
The following Article was posted on CNN today and written by By Jennifer Kelly Geddes, Parenting.com March 28, 2011. I found it good sound information for parents. A new report … Read more
What Our Kids Need is a Little Old School
Because we can not expect to raise healthy and happy adults if we don’t grow happy and healthy kids.
Never Underestimate a Child
Sometimes in life.. Ok, more times than not, the lessons we try to teach our kids end up being taught to us by them far more simply and poetically. The … Read more
Run Daddy, Run
About four months ago I set out to train for an ultra marathon. Ultra marathons are considered races over the 26.2 mile mark. Most common are 31 miles, 50, or … Read more
Six Signs of a Healthy Family
I spend a lot of time analyzing the health of both my business and personal wellbeing. Both areas get a lot of attention with the intent to bolster its strengths … Read more
Just About Two Weeks Ago…
Just about two weeks ago, I was informed that an 8 year old boy in my community had been diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. The boy’s father serves as policeman … Read more
Just Play Catch
For many of us parents, we seem to be compelled to involve our kids in a myriad of extracurricular activities. In fact, our kids’ itineraries often times rival our own … Read more
Old School Lessons in a Texting Age
In our humble home we have succumb to the trappings of the mobile phone for our 13 year old. I admit, I fought it at first, holding that the phone … Read more
Every Parent Can Use Perspective
View Her Video Story Here I am inspired by those parents who have faced tragedy and turned that event into something better and often times beautiful for others. Becky Nichols … Read more
Jaime Oliver: Teaching Kids to Cook/Fighting Obesity
Jamie Oliver has been drawn to the restaurant kitchen since he was seven or eight. First working in his father’s pub-restaurant and then training in England and France, he not … Read more
No Easy Road…So Steer
Let’s be frank, being a parent can be one of the most frustrating and mentally/physically debilitating exercises on earth. With no guide-book or ‘parental GPS’, we are cast out into … Read more
Own Up. Essential To Parenting Up
Have you ever noticed that peoples dogs, often look and sometimes act like their owners. In fact, I have with some regularity, been able to guess the profile of the … Read more