The kid theme continues. I learned a lot from my 14 year old nephew’s graduation, 2 weeks ago. So much so, I had to write about it (click here to read: 8th Grade Graduation Adventure) That’s the thing about adventures,  sometimes you just never know when they come knocking on your door. And now for another kid adventure.

Midlife Kid Adventure #2 was a whopper!

My 12 1/2 year old niece from Northern California came to visit “Auntie” for a week. This inspired me to once again get ” Midlife Kid Adventurized”….

Adventure Tip: Kids are great adventurizers, always up for something new. If you don’t have any, borrow one from a friend or find a willing niece or nephew. (You’ll get lots of Auntie or Uncle points!).

My niece and I went to a taping at Sony Pictures Studios of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” A TV show where contestants answer grade school questions for money and with the help of smarty pants 5th graders.

As we stood in single file waiting to go into the studio, surrounded by the gigantic Sony sound stages, my niece was in awe. This kind of thing doesn’t happen in little Northern California towns. I was on a vicarious kid adventure, thrilled to see her world expand a  little.

They were taping three shows, so after the second one, our hands were raw from the incessant clapping (I can practically feel the tingling still!). I don’t know how the audience “warm-up guy” does it…We were exhausted and ready to go home, we’d had our fill. And then…everything changed.

By the way, the questions are fairly difficult. Questions like, “Who was the engineer in 1926 who successfully tested the first rocket using liquid fuel?” (Robert Goddard). So we were learning while we were adventurizing.

The previous contestants were somewhat milk toast..well behaved. And left with just the consolation prize – a $2500 gift card. (not too shabby!).

The third and last contestant, a vivacious African American woman dressed in a fuschia silk dress and matching pumps, named Kim (not her real name..you’ll just have to watch the show!) sauntered out on to the stage like she owned it.

Suddenly the audience and the host (the very funny, Jeff Foxworthy) woke up.

Kim was ready for an adventure. A big adventure.

She answered the first questions fairly easily. Each time she committed to an answer, she had to “lock it in” by pressing a large button on her podium. But Kim didn’t just press that button. She held her hand over it, hovering for a few seconds, praying that this was the right answer. We could feel her passion, her energy, her adventurous spirit every step of the way.

Then the tough question came about how many planets were “Gas Planets”..She had no idea. So she guessed “4″. But then decided to defer to one of the 5th graders. After what seemed like 10 minutes, she “locked in” her answer, pressing that big button to her left, going with the 5th grader’s answer instead. Turns out, he was wrong. Her guess had been right but she didn’t trust her gut. So, she lost the money on that question.

Adventure Tip (and “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” advice from Jeff Foxworthy) : ALWAYS TRUST YOUR GUT

The stakes were getting higher and Kim was getting more dramatic by the minute, at times falling to her knees as she begged and pleaded to get the right answer. She was taking us along on her adventure…her emotional roller coaster…

Now it was down to the wire. She had to choose between $16,000 worth of winnings or go for the big prize, $160,000. The audience was divided. Some yelled “take the money and run!!” others said (like my niece and I) yelled, “Go for it..Take a chance!” This went on for several minutes.

Then Kim summed it all up with one simple, committed, passionate, thought…”I didn’t come here to settle. I came here to win big and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Wow. Suddenly my gut told me she was going to do just that.

Kim picked a math question. (scary!). I can’t even remember the question. It was about the cubic centimeters of 96….something or other. Kim was allowed to figure out the answer invisibly on her “blackboard” podium using only her finger (no pen and paper allowed). She talked us through this very long, complicated, mathematical process. It was riveting.

Then came that “locking it in” moment. She hovered. She danced. She threw her arms up in the air. She flailed. She dropped to the floor. She paced. Then, Foxworthy toyed with her, causing her to question every part of her answer. She laughed. She screamed. She pleaded to the gods above.

And then…the defining moment. She was so confident. So clear. So adventurous.

She raised her right hand above her head, and came down on that button with complete fervor.

Foxworthy once again toyed with her, pacing across the stage with a swagger in those well worn cowboy boots. He turned and told her he had another number in his head besides her answer of “64″…

It was, $160,000.

She won.

It was sizzling, thrilling, completely energizing. This is what life is all about. Not winning the money,  but wanting someone else to win at something. Being truly happy for someone you didn’t even know. Just because.

We all screamed. Yelling “we love you Kim!!!”

Adventure Tip: Adventurizing is about other adventurizers. THEIR stories can inspire us and lift us to a bigger, better adventure than we could have imagined.

Midlife Kid Adventure Tip: Take a kid along for an extra special adventure. You may learn about vicariously midlife adventurizing along the way.

-Tracy Pattin

Tags: Adventures, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Jeff Foxworthy, kid adventures, kids, midlife, midlife adventures, Sony, Sony Pictures Studios