1 . For a long time, comedy has been perceived as a profession for men only. But this has changed in recent years. Many female comics have made their mark on the stage not by ignoring the issues of gender inequality, but by bringing them to light.

Yang Li, 28, is one of them. Yang has done stand-up comedy for about three years and often focuses on the difficulties females face. For example, she recently made headlines with a biting joke about how women are portrayed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“In The Avengers (《复仇者联盟》), there are six heroes, and only one of them is a woman,” she said during a July episode of Rock & Roast (《脱口秀大会》). Yang was referring to Black Widow, whose superpower is the ability to slow down her aging. How exactly is she supposed to save the world by surviving until all the bad guys die?”

“What I said is not only a joke, but also something female comics are facing, as well as women in general.” Yang told Jiemian News.

Chinese comic twins Yan Yi and Yan Yue echoed this sentiment (观点). They once joked that “the only movie that doesn’t depict two women fighting with each other over a man is The Shining (《闪灵》) (an iconic horror movie from the US)”.

Despite getting more prominent roles, however, women still face challenges in the comedy industry, according to Sixth Tone, a publication based in Shanghai.

“I’ve found that audiences tend to be more judgmental about a female comedian’s appearance,” Yang Mengqi, who made the top 30 on Rock & Roast, said. To avoid unwelcome attention, female comics have to be especially prudent (精明的) in choosing what clothes they wear to perform.

The other challenge is that females are sometimes taken less seriously, despite abundant evidence of their talent and commitment in the male-dominated field.

Maple Zuo is a comic who performs in both English and Mandarin. “It’s hard to fit in when I’m the only female comedian (at a show),” said Zuo, who has toured internationally. “Every time there’s a comedy scene party, they always spontaneously (自然而然地) divide up into two groups: one for the male comics, another for their girlfriends, she said. “I always end up hanging out with the girlfriends.”

Even so, many Chinese female comics feel optimistic about their future. Yang told Sixth Tone, “When people ask what has motivated me to stick with stand-up comedy, my response is simple: I hope to use whatever influence I have to improve gender equality.”

3 . Students were eating lunch when a fire broke out at Marysville School in Southeast Portland in 2016. The incident left a big mark on students, teachers and parents as they watched the school buried in flames. All the 460 students as well as the 50 staff were left unharmed but after school was destroyed, they had to move to another building in Portland.

Lana Penley, who had started her second year as a principal for Marysville, said everyone needed relief (缓解痛苦) from the accident. “We were already a school that struggled, and then adding the fire on top of it, we really thought we needed to find a social and emotional curriculum (课程) that connects to the heart to overcome our trauma (创伤),” Penley said.

It was after the school opened its doors again that Penley and her staff found a solution in the MindUP program, founded by the actress Goldie Hawn and the Hawn Foundation. MindUP helps kids who are suffering from a high level of stress develop skills they need to flourish (健康成长) in a complicated (复杂的) world. Penley used the program as a way to alleviate trauma from the fires, as well as support many of her students who live in poverty.

The program’s main focus is using neuroscience, mindful awareness and positive psychology as a channel (途径) for social-emotional learning. Penley and her staff noticed that the program helped lift the spirits of her students and after their first year with the program, they began to think about how they could bring this to the overall health of the school.

At the beginning of the day, teachers led students in a couple of breathing exercise in order to help them focus on staying present. Teachers greeted kids at the door, played soft music, and turned the lights down to create a relaxing environment. Students then discussed practices the school was working on together, such as mindfulness. Mindfulness had created the atmosphere of the entire school and students had used the concept as a way to really listen to each other.

Even teachers benefited from the program. Teachers got a “brain break” before staff meetings so they could recharge and focus on the task ahead. MindUP had made all the people in the school become positive. “Our teachers are happier, which is really important, and we have a ton of people applying to our school now because they’re interested in mindfulness,” Penley said.

MindUP is based on research. In a study looking at the positive benefits of the curriculum, Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, a professor from University of British Columbia, asked fourth and fifth graders about their experience. 82% of children said they had a more positive outlook, 81% developed ways to increase their happiness, and 58% of the kids expressed a desire to help their classmates more frequently.

“It really is a shift in the heart,” Penley said. “It’s a way of being and it’s going to change the feel of the school.”

5 . A year ago, we bought our son a bike for his birthday. In this way he could stay more active. Plus, we didn't have to push a tricycle around the neighborhood.

I thought he even wanted to sleep with his bike. He got on, rode, and had a huge smile on his face. When we went out for a walk, he would ask me politely if he could ride his bike. I said yes. Then he would play for a long time and didn't want to go home. He rode in every season: winter, spring, summer and fall.

This year, we had him join in a program called SprocKids started by our local mountain bike club. As you can imagine, my little mountain biker showed great interest in it. On the first night, he tried riding over the obstacles（障碍物）, which made me worried and frightened. One obstacle was even taller than me, but he persisted.

Later, one day, he found an old bike in the storeroom. It was mine. He called me out and said, "Mommy, will you go biking with me?" I was surprised because I hadn't biked since high school, but I decided to cycle with him.

I was highly rewarded for my efforts. On the one hand, I took part in an activity with my child. And I didn't have to do all the work by pushing or carrying him. It was an activity he loved and he told me about every path and every move excitedly. On the other hand, we developed a closer bond（关系）.

In my opinion, it's very important for kids to stay active. And parents' encouragement is very important for them to stay active. But words of encouragement are not enough. It's better if parents can do a physical activity together with their kids.

8 . It is said that most people have not more than 30 friends at any given time, and 400 over the whole of their lives. However, on social networking sites, most users have about 150 friends. If these numbers are correct, then friendship means different things in different situations.

Also, there are no rules about friendship. There are no instructions about how to make friends, how to keep friendships going, and how to finish friendships if we want to move on. People have very different opinions about this: some people would die for their friends and they value them more than family. Others say that friends are temporary, only there to help each other until they are no longer needed. If people with such different views become friends, this can lead to problems.

Because of these different definitions of friendship, it is easy to be unhappy about our friendships. We may want them to be deeper or closer, or we may want to have more friends in our lives. Sometimes we simply do not have the time to develop our friendships, or we fear we have left it too late in life to start. If we move to another country or city, we have to find ways to make new friends again.

This dissatisfaction shows us how important friendships are for most of us. We should not think that it could be too late to build friendships. We also need to understand that the need to be around other people is one that is shared by many. Therefore, we should not be too frightened about starting to talk to people who in the future may become our friends: it is likely that they too would like to get closer to us. Remember what people say: strangers are friends we have not met yet.

10 . Every kid has their own favorites. Dolls, dinosaurs, remote controls and cellphones — they might have a toy box with a wide range of play things to keep them entertained, but there's firm favorite they always reach for first-cars. Although the sex difference in the toy world remains, it's not only little boys who are drawn to all things with wheels. That my 20-month-old daughter dotes on the red bus toy is the proof of this.

From age 0 to 2, children are in the sensorimotor (感觉运动的) stage of development, explains Alyssa Wilkins. “They are learning by absorbing everything through their senses — sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing,” Wilkins says. “Toys and real-life objects like cars are very sensorily engaging. Kids can interact with toy cars, trucks, etc. through spinning (旋转) their wheels, watching them move in a variety of directions, or hearing the sounds they make.”

Plus, kids are just naturally drawn to loud and moving objects. “They see the lights on the cars and the rolling wheels, and hear the sound of the running engine. It's very engaging,” Wilkins says. “Kids will always be drawn to attractive and loud things because that is what engages their brain and sensory systems.”

Another appeal of toy vehicles is that they're typically small enough to fit in a child's hand Cars become the favorite of both boys and girls because they can put their cars in their pockets r carry them around. A car is also a cause-and-effect toy — it teaches children that their actions can make something happen. “It's super interesting and exciting for kids to learn that they can change something in their environment, and they may feel proud of what they have done,” Capanna-Hodge says.

Every child is unique in how they engage with toys, and the reasons for their play style may be diverse and complex. Ultimately, how your kids play with their toy vehicles could be a little window into what controls or excites them.

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