2 . Your relationship with your mom is supposed to be one of the most special relationships in your life, which makes it much harder when she says something that hurts your feelings.     1     Don’t worry. Here are expert recommendations for talking with your mom and taking care of yourself.

Stay calm. Breathe deeply to control your emotions. It’s completely normal to feel your temper rise if she said something really mean. However, don’t immediately react or argue. Take slow, deep breaths to calm yourself.     2    

Tell your mom that she hurt your feelings. Express yourself so your mom knows that you’ re hurt. It can be scary to approach your mom and discuss what she said, but it’s a big step.     3     In this way she’s more likely to listen to you. Make sure you tell her why you’ re upset and what you’d like to see change.

    4     Take care of your mental well being by stopping harmful negative talk. If your mom says hurtful things, you might start to believe them unless you change your outlook. If you think something like, “I must be a bad person,” stop and tell yourself, “Actually, I’m quite a good person.” Repeat these positive thoughts and eventually, you’ll believe them.

Spend time around emotionally-supportive people. Take a break from the stress and anxiety that comes from interacting with your mom.     5     Talk to them about your situation and you may get help from them. Knowing you are around people who love you for who you are can make you feel much better.

3 . If there is one trait (特点) I have taken from my mother, it is her _________. Like most mothers, my mom wants the best for me. She encourages me to seize every opportunity and use it to its fullest _________. She has encouraged me to _________ those opportunities that may even seem impossible. After all, she does this every day.

When friends met my mom for the first time, they were often taken aback, and _________ they didn’t want this emotion to show on their faces when they shook her hand and said hello. When they got me alone for a second, they _________ me for not telling them my mom was in a wheelchair. It shocked them.

In my _________, I never think to mention that my mom is in a wheelchair. She has been paralyzed from the waist down for most of her life. To me, though, she is just a/an _________ mom. Like many of my friends’ moms, she has always been there for me. When there were those _________ as a child when I just needed to be held, I knew I could crawl onto my mother’s lap and find _________ in her safe arms. When I needed a __________ on the sideline of my soccer games, she was always there. Mother, friend, teacher, nutritionist, chef, caregiver, banker, and advisor---my mom has always been __________ for me.

On family vacations, my mother never sits out on a/an __________. She couldn’t hike the volcano in Hawaii with the rest of the family or go cliff-jumping in Mexico. But she always __________. She goes as far as she can.

I have learned from watching my mom that if I don’t have the courage to try, even if the chances of failure are slim, I will never __________. The opportunities I have are without bounds because my mother showed me how to live __________ limits.

It was now December twenty-fourth. So here we were, travelling about 2,000 miles and finally reaching our destination San Diego at last. We’d rented a room in a small, well-worn motel (汽车旅馆) near the beach.

Six-year-old Chat frowned. “There is no Christmas tree, Mommy! But it’s almost Christmas. How can Santa know where to put our presents without a Christmas tree?”

“Yes, a Christmas tree!” echoed (附和) his four-year-old brother Jay. “I want a Christmas tree!”

”Couldn’t we just get a small Christmas tree and set it up in this room somewhere?“ asked Chat. ”That way, Santa Claus will know where to put our presents.”

I sighed, looking around at our squeezed-in beds and bags. “But, honey, the five of us can barely move around in here with all our suitcases and everything. I’m sorry, but we just don’t have the room for something extra like a Christmas tree.”

Our oldest son, seven-year-old Robin, had been listening quietly. Suddenly, he grinned (咧嘴笑). “Yes, we do.”

I stared. “Where?”

He pointed to our motel room’s door. “Right there—on the back of that door. Please, Mommy, if we can’t get a real tree, can’t we make a pretend tree and put it up there? Then Santa will know we love Christmas just as much as he does.”

“And leave us some presents, too!” Chat added.

Make a tree? I looked at the newspaper that I had bought when I was searching for places to rent. If I taped some of those pages together, cut them out into a tree shape, and bought some poster paint and brushes at the store next door…

Now, I was grinning, too. “Okay, boys! Ready to make the very best Christmas tree in the whole wide world?”

“Yes!”

So we bought some paint and then taped and cut and painted.

The next morning, I heard, “Mommy! Daddy! Look! Santa did find us after all!”

8 . The mental health of children is connected to their parents’ mental health. A recent study asked parents to report on their children’s mental and physical (身体的) health as well as their own mental health. One in 14 children aged 0~17 years had a parent who reported poor mental health, and those children were more likely to have poor general health and a mental or developmental disability.

Being mentally healthy during childhood includes reaching developmental milestones, learning healthy social skills and how to solve problems. Mentally healthy children are more likely to have a happy life and are more likely to work well at home, in school, and in their communities.

A child’s healthy development depends on their parents who serve as their first sources(来源) of support in becoming independent and leading healthy and successful lives.

The mental health of parents and children is connected in many ways. Parents who have their own mental health challenges, such as dealing with anxiety (fear or worry), may have more difficulty providing care for their children compared to parents who describe their mental health as good. Caring for children can create challenges for parents, particularly if they lack (缺乏) support, which can have a negative effect on a parent’s mental health. Parents and children may also experience shared risks, such as living in unsafe environments, and the like.

Fathers are important for improving children’s mental health, although they are not as often included in research studies as mothers. The recent study looked at fathers and found similar connections between their mental health and their children’s general and mental health as for mothers. Fathers and mothers need support, which, in turn, can help them support their children’s mental health.

Houses are very different. Some are huge and have gold swimming pools. Pop stars live in those. Some are in rows with a brick wall at one end and overlook a pie factory. Franklin Gates lives in one of those. Number Three, Stanley Street, to be exact.

He loved living on Stanley Street. Everyone was friendly. All his mates were there and the smells from the pie factory, Mmm, delicious! There was just one problem. Franklin’s mum and dad wanted to move. His mum was expecting twins and they needed another bedroom. “This house is too small, ” said his mum. Next day, there was a “For Sale” sign stuck by Franklin’s door.

Franklin and his best friend Josh stared at the words of doom. “What am I going to do, Josh?” said Franklin.

Josh frowned. “Has your house got problems? Number forty’s got problems and no one wants to buy it.” Franklin stared at number forty. It looked all right to him. “What kind of problems?” he asked.

“Oh, mice and damp and really horrible wallpaper.” Franklin sighed. His house was warm and friendly and it had just been painted, worse luck.

Mrs. Cox lived next door to Franklin in a big house that had once been the corner shop. Just then, she came out, followed by her dog Zack.

“I’m sorry you’re moving,” Mrs. Cox said. “So am I,” Franklin grumbled. Mrs. Cox patted Franklin on the arm. “Never mind. Your house might take months to sell.”

However, a few days later, Franklin came home from school to find a man in the kitchen. His name was Mr. Bragg and was interested in buying the house. He glared at Franklin and trod on his toes, without saying sorry. Franklin’s heart sank when Mr. Bragg said he wanted to come back for a second visit on Saturday morning.

At school, Franklin asked, “Josh. Does your elder sister still work in the fish shop?” Josh nodded. “Good. Listen, I’ve got a job for you.”

Franklin cupped his hand over Josh’s ear and began whispering his plan.

Mr. and Mrs. Gates were very angry. “You’d better explain what’s going on!”