【推荐1】The Secret of Raising Happy Children

Raising children is a job that is never quite done. But here are a few simple tips that may help you to raise happy children.

Share your feelings.

Of course, everyone may occasionally feel angry or awkward.     1     Instead, you should try to show your children that you aren’t just a parent but also a human being. Not only will your children feel closer to you, but they may feel safe enough to share their negative emotions with you.

Play a game in the park.

    2     Not only will you all be working out, but you will be spending quality time together, too. In this way the relationship between you and your children can be greatly improved.

Bond with your children.

If your child is crying for attention, don’t just keep silent or go for a drive outside. Instead, take your child in your arms and waltz around the room. The more exaggerated（夸张的）your movements, the better.     3     The child will feel safer and more secure, making him or her happier and healthier in the future.

    4    

The evening meal is often the only time of a day when the family can get together in one place.     5     Use the time to share news of your day, make weekend plans and enjoy one another’s company. Research shows that children who dine with their family at least twice a week are less likely to smoke and use drugs and they tend to get better exam results.

【推荐3】As soon as you come into contact with a new environment, chances are you will be hit with culture shock.     1     I’d like to share my own past experiences and offer you some suggestions on how to overcome it and adjust to life as a freshman in the UK.

When I first arrived at university, I was a few weeks late due to some flight issues. I had never been to the UK before and I was extremely scared; everything seemed different. Culture shock was inevitable (不可避免) as I found it difficult to adjust to different aspects of UK society. Language, accents, mannerisms and even the food caught me off guard to start with. One of the effective ways to overcome it is to try and be open-minded.     2    

Since I was a new international student, my biggest concern was standing out amongst a completely different culture. Unfortunately, this led to me keeping to myself and not truly coming to terms with my new surroundings.     3     University life can be difficult at the beginning and many people around you understand this. You’d be amazed how much people will be willing to help you. If you don’t ask any questions, you’re not going to get any answers.

    4     This is particularly better if you are alongside other students who are also in the same boat, as you can go through the process together. Making friends at university is very important, especially at the beginning.     5     Making friends not only makes it easier to deal with but also goes a long way towards improving your social skills that will benefit your university experience as a whole.

【推荐1】Develop Positive Relationships

One of the most profound experiences we can have in our lives is the connection we have with other human beings. Positive and supportive relationships will help us to feel healthier, happier, and more satisfied with our lives.     1    

●Accept and celebrate differences.

    2     Yet when we try to build relationships, we expect that people will think like we do. In this way, it is so much easier to create a friendly relationship. However, while we may find it initially easier, the novelty of sameness soon would wear off. So accepting that we are all different is a great starting point.

●Listen effectively.

Listening is a crucial skill in boosting another person’s self-esteem.    3    In active listening, we also are genuinely interested in understanding what the other person is thinking, feeling, wanting, or what the message means, and we are active in checking out our understanding before we respond with our own new message. This process is what distinguishes active listening and makes it effective.

●    4    

In a world where time is of the essence, we don’t always have the time to give to our loved ones. Being present in the time you give to people is important. In other words, when you are with someone, you are truly with someone and not living in the past or worrying about the future. Devoting time, energy, and effort to building relationships is one of the most valuable life skills.

●Manage mobile technology.

By now, everyone has a mobile phone and many people have two or more. While they are a lifesaver in an emergency, and an effective tool for communication, they also can be a complete distraction when people exhibit a lack of mobile phone etiquette (礼仪).    5    

【推荐2】After exactly a year of staying at home, we have adapted to socializing digitally, in short bursts of time.Remember in Before Times you could head to the gym after work and then get dressed for dinner and a night out? The pandemic(疫情) has changed this. Our social batteries have run out of charge. It's been a long time since we had to perform our social role for an extended period.

For 23-year-old Hafsa, the excitement of her friends and family to restart their social lives has left her astonished. “ At the minute my parents are planning a trip abroad and I keep postponing getting back to them with a date,” she explains. “They don't know it's because of all of this. Just the thought of being in a room full of people is scary, it's like going back to school.”

Heather Garbutt, psychotherapist of the Counselling & Psychotherapy Centre says communication is key to recharging your unused social battery. “Take it slowly and don't immediately organize a large get-together,” she advises. “Go for a walk with somebody for no more than half an hour and gently get used to being with people again. It may actually be a shock to our system which has been shut down to some degree to cope with absence. We may have that longing to be with others, but that doesn't mean we are free from anxiety. It would be good to start off with a conversation about what it's going to be like when you are all together again.”

She says finding some causal topics to discuss also works. Acknowledge that many of you may feel a bit awkward after being physically apart for so long. It's a bit like learning to walk again after you've broken a limb. It may all be off-balance to begin with but you will find a new steadiness with practice. Whatever happens post-pandemic, your loved ones can't judge if you want to take it easy and not engage in the festivities immediately. We are recovering from a post-pandemic stress disorder, after all.