Form Section - Dates

I have a form section that I am using to populate a table. I noticed that the date fields show a default none when I add a record. This is fine except that it is difficult paste a date from a different program into this field. I also cannot go forward and back on the calendar unless I chose a date in the default month that appears. after I select a date it seems to work much better. Are there any tips to make this be more user friendly when adding data. We are adding dates from the past by copying and pasting from another program. If I could eliminate the none and have a blank field, that would be great. I know I can add a default value of a today's date, but that may add some confusion to the person entering the record.

This may help:
http://www.lianja.com/community/show...n-Date-Textbox

Maybe you will need a variable input to have more control.