changing date format in datePicker with function?

hi

trying to fix/revise the date format in Events Manager admin…
since wp now includes the jquery datepicker in core, it seems to me it should be possible to manipulate via a custom function, yes??

i was reading this year-old post which almost made sense to me… but i don’t want/need to actually add the datepicker to a page – it’s already included in the “add event” admin…

but it doesn’t display the date the way i’d like it… it defaults to dd-mm-yy, and we really would like M-dd-yy (so Jan-03-2013) so it’s VERY clear what the date is… we run an international site, and the confusion between dd-mm-yy and mm-dd-yy is just too much of a headache.

so…
i thought i could do something simple like this

function hylw_datereturn () {
	jQuery(document).ready(function() {
    jQuery('#MyDate').datepicker({
        dateFormat : 'M-dd-yy'
    }}};

add_action ('display_date','hylw_datereturn');

but something isn’t right… it’s showing me a syntax error in DW. I’m not a programmer, i’m a reasonably successful hack artist who can follow the logic… but this time, i think i’m in over my head.

is what i’m trying to do even POSSIBLE? or am i deluded.

If it IS possible, would some kind soul out there please point me to a more specific resource or solution?

Many thanks!