【推荐1】Four Strange American Traditions

Let’s look at four traditions Americans celebrate without even considering how strange the rest of world consider them.

Baby Showers

The custom of celebrating a new child has been around forever and is part of most cultures. In the US, however, it’s honored differently: with a baby shower. The baby shower began during the 1950s. It involves an afternoon party for the mom-to-be attended by close female friends and families. The guests play baby-themed games, and there’s always plenty of food.

Trick-or-treating

Many cultures have strong historic traditions like dressing up around the time of Halloween, but few of these involve children going door-to-door asking for candy with the words, “Trick or treat!” Typically, their parents wouldn’t allow them to talk to strangers, begging for candy in the streets at night. But all of a sudden they support such behaviors on one magical evening each fall.

Presidential Turkey Pardons

Thanksgiving in general seems to puzzle those who aren’t interested in American traditions, but perhaps no part of that turkey festival seems more unusual than the annual ceremony during which modern presidents give an official pardon to a live turkey. Interestingly, there’s also a great deal of confusion among Americans concerning the actual origins of this strange tradition.

Black Friday Shopping Sprees(疯狂购物)

People in the US have no problem lining up before the sun even rises to cash in on big deals on Black Friday. Just hours after millions of turkeys are eaten in the United States on Thanksgiving each year, the shoppers head out to get a start on their yearly Christmas gift list. Black Friday sales promotion traditionally launches this national weekend shopping activity, which continues with Small Business Saturday and ends with Cyber Monday.

【推荐1】Three Books for a More Honest View of Mother

Life Among the Savages, Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson, author of one of the most wonderful novels of all time, The Haunting of Hill House, and of the short story The Lottery, also wrote two charming autobiographical (自传的) novels about raising her four children in a farmhouse in rural Vermont. In my favorite, Life Among the Savages, Jackson’s humor is as smart as her horror is scaring and her children seem never to inspire in her anything worse than a fond anger.

A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You, Amy Bloom

A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You contains one of the most absolute expressions of a mother’s love in fiction. Much of it takes place in the waiting room of a gender-reassignment surgeon. It’s about a woman who is determined to be the mother her child needs her to be. In this book, ordinary women rise to the occasion demanded by motherhood, they make mistakes but they generally succeed in making up for them.

Family Man, Calvin Trillin

My last recommendation is not about mothers at all, but rather about fathers, or rather one father in particular. In Family Man, Calvin Trillin writes about his wife and daughters. He gives what I think is the most useful piece of parenting advice: “Getting advice on the best way to bring up children is like getting advice on the best way to breathe. Sooner or later you’re probably going to forget it and go back to your regular old in-and-out.” Trillin gives the impression of being the best kind of husband.

【推荐3】Plants and exposure to greenery have been found to have mental health benefits and like any new skill or hobby, taking care of houseplants comes with difficulty. Anyone starting to care for plants should be patient and allow themselves time to learn the basics. Here are several plants recommended for giving mental health benefits:

These popular indoor plants have a striking appearance, with dark green sword-shaped leaves that have yellow or white stripes. It is a great first plant, and is very easy to care for. It grows in spaces with low sunlight, has visual appeal and cleans the air.

Well known for its relaxing smell, lavender has a calming effect, aids in reducing stress, promotes sleep and specially has anti-inflammatory (抗炎的) effects when used as a medicine for skin. You can cut it off and dry the leaves or even put them into your bath.

If you want to go bright green, try pothos. The plants grow long stems that can hang from a pot and grow downward, or the stems can climb and grow upward. They clean the air and look beautiful hanging down a bookcase or shelf.

This fragrant green herb is part of the mint family and is simple to plant. Known for its calming properties, it has a light lemony smell and has been used to improve sleep, reduce stress and anxiety.

The experience of growing, picking and using herbs you’ve grown yourself has a positive impact on your mental health, creating a sense of accomplishment. Eating basil has health benefits too. It has properties that help to relieve stress and anxiety, and eating it can clear your mind.