1 . Parents often think that their kids should be good at studies and do well in sports. That’s usually the case because parents feel that could get their children admission to top colleges. However, Melissa and Mark Wimmer think differently.

Their 14-year-old son, Mike, is a prodigy. He is a member of Mensa, which is the world’s top IQ club. He completed his high school, associate’s and bachelor’s degrees all in three years. That’s not all. He also ran two tech companies, founded a third one that works towards controlling the population of lionfish, an invasive (入侵的) species.

But the parents are proud that they were able to help Mike with his social skills along with his intellectual skills. Melissa told CNBC that people expected “Young Sheldon” before they met her son. Young Sheldon is a television show about a child talent who is an indoor man and lacks social skills. “But once they talk to Mike, they understand that he’s just a normal 14-year-old that happens to be able to do amazing things,” said Melissa.

Mark and Melissa got to know about their child’s intelligence when he entered preschool. A child psychologist told them that their son would need a different course to support his fast-track development. Many parents aren’t comfortable with putting their children with 18-year-olds, but Mike’s parents saw the value in letting their child go through it. “I wanted him to be social and be able to deal with all the different personalities in the classrooms with older children,” said Melissa.

The parents shared that they were able to do this by letting Mike find his own voice and put it to use. “We let him order food when he’s 3 or 4 from the waiter or waitress and introduce himself to people. Those kinds of things are done to encourage him to engage with everyone else and be more comfortable talking to others outside of our environment,” said Melissa.

Thanks to his parents, Mike has learned to get along with young and old alike.

5 . One school night this month I quietly approached Alexander, my 15-year-old son, and patted him on the cheek in a manner I hoped would seem casual. Alex knew better, sensing by my touch, which remained just a moment too long, that I was sneaking (偷偷地做) a touch of the beard that had begun to grow near his ears. Suddenly he went stormily to his computer screen. That, and an angry look of his eyes, told me more forcefully than words: Mom, you are seen through!

I realized I committed a silly behavior: not showing respect for my teenager’s personal space. “The average teenager has strong feelings about his privacy,” said two young women experts. Ms. Frankel and Ms. Fox, both 17, are the authors of Breaking the Code, a new book that seeks to bridge the generational divide between parents and adolescents. It is being promoted by its publisher as the first self-help guide by teenagers for their parents, a kind of Kids Are From Mars, Parents Are From Venus that explains the language and actions of teenagers.

Personally, I welcomed insights into teenagers from any qualified experts, and that included the authors. The most common missteps in interacting with teenagers, they instructed me, result from the conflict between parents maintaining their right to know what goes on under their roof and teenagers striving to guard their privacy. When a child is younger, they write, every decision centers around the parents. But now, as Ms. Fox told me, “often your teenager is in this circle that doesn’t include you.”

Ms. Fox and Ms. Frankel acknowledge that teenagers can be quick to interpret their parents’ remarks a s negative or authoritative and respond with aggressiveness that masks their defenselessness. “What we want above all is your approval,” they write. “Don’t forget, no matter how much we act as if we don’t care what you say, we believe the things you say about us.”

7 . Bob Stockton, my father-in-law, observed his 80th birthday in November 2019. Bob loved sports and was an enthusiastic Yankees (an American professional baseball team based in the New York City) fan, so it was no wonder that over the years, he was an avid (热切的) listener to WEAN radio and, in particular, the afternoon show hosted by Mike Francesa.

Bob had health issues in his later years that limited his mobility, and when he lost his eyesight three years ago, his attachment to his radio and Francesa became more pronounced. He just loved listening to Mike talk about sports and his Yankees each afternoon. Those hours brought him so much pleasure.

Of course, Mike will be leaving on Dec. 15,2020 after 30 years at the station. Mike lives in the same community where I work on Long Island, and I have gotten to know him over the past20 years. So when my father-in-law was approaching his special birthday last year, I asked Mike for a favor: to call Bob and wish him a happy birthday.

Mike agreed without hesitation. Two days before the special day, Mike stopped at my workplace. I called Bob at his nursing home and put Mike on the phone. It was a complete surprise to Bob. Mike spent more than 10 minutes wishing Bob a happy birthday and, of course, talking about the Yankees.

When my family celebrated Bob's birthday two days later, he couldn't stop talking about the phone call. Over his lifetime. he said it was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for him. Unfortunately, Bob's health declined (衰退) and he passed away on July 13,2020. But even in his final months in the hospital and nursing home, he always had a radio set to WEAN to listen each afternoon to Mike Francesa. And he also had the memory of that special phone call for his80th birthday.

9 . It was a carefree summer day when a father, Steven Poust, was out boating on the St. John’s River with his 4-year-old daughter Abigail and 4-year-old son Chase. The children were playfully swimming near their anchored boat while their father was fishing, smiling at his kids. Suddenly, Abigail got caught in the powerful current, forcing her to release the handle on the boat. Chase let go of the boat to take hold of his little sister, but he found himself caught in the current. When Steven jumped into the water to rescue his struggling children, he was also pulled in.

As they all drifted farther from the boat, the desperate father pushed his son to a safer place and tried to stick with his daughter as long as he could. However, he wore himself out later, and she drifted away from him. The father had to follow his daughter. So the responsibility to save the family was now on young Chase’s shoulders.

Steven instructed his son to swim to the shore and find immediate help. Meanwhile, he would attempt to retrieve his little girl, who was continuously being pulled farther from his reach.

Chase did as he was told. The young boy was swimming against the current, which made it more difficult to swim toward the shore. However, the young boy continued to swim with one thought in mind: to save his family. Chase swam as fast as he could to reach the riverbank. When he grew tired, Chase cleverly floated on his back; at times, he paddled to conserve his energy. Once he reached the shore, he raced to the closest house he could find, knocked on the door and screamed for help. The owners answered and immediately dialed 911.

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department responded quickly. They located the empty boat. In the water, they found kids’ shoes, a cellphone and fishing poles floating near the boat. After a 90-minute search, the search crew located the father and the daughter in the water, who had been swept a mile and a half from their abandoned boat.

10 . One afternoon, after finishing shopping in a supermarket, my family and I went to the checkout. I suddenly thought we didn’t need the junk (垃圾) food, and we gave up all those, saving $300.

That got me thinking about all our meaningless cost in life. Why not make a change? With butterflies in the stomach, we decided to take a try. The rules were that we would buy nothing for 30 days except necessities (必需品).

Our adventure (历险) began with a great start. By 9 A. m. , my wife, Ruth, had already made cakes from old strawberries and picked flowers I didn’t even know we had in the garden. I cleared the car by hand for the first time for years. I read and returned the neighbor’s newspaper before he woke up. Total spending on the first day: $0.

As days turned into weeks, we became so experienced at living simply. We started riding our bikes to save gas. My child’s finger painting was recycled as gift wrap for the homemade presents. We started to use an Internet application like Skype for free phone calls and ask neighbors with gardens for extra vegetables and herbs.

In the end, we saved more than $2000 by not spending for a month. When we began, I imagined we would rush out the moment we were done and buy a lot of things in the supermarket, then maybe hit the mall or go to the movies.