1 . 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.

2 . This is a real and severe fact that we cannot avoid sickness. Someone in the house must look after a sick person. Mothers are often left to bear the burden of sick family members. Of course, they usually look after their sick children. Young children are easier to get infections and have lower immunity(免疫力), so they get sick more frequently.

When children are ill, they are more often than not suffering from a common cold or fever. The younger the child, the more critical it is for the mother or caregiver to notice the symptoms(症状). This is especially true for high fevers, which can harm the child’s brain. Mothers are also responsible for bringing sick children to the doctor and following up on any treatment. They must also persuade the children to take medicine at the appropriate times, as well as monitor their diet and rest.

A sick person is usually not in good spirits. As a result, caregivers must be patient. It is during these times that the sick person at home truly appreciates their caregivers’ love. Patients who received loving care recovered more quickly than those who did not.

A child or adult suffering from a serious disease such as cancer requires all available assistance. Visits to the doctor for follow-up treatments must be scheduled. Home emotional support is also essential. A family member with kidney(肾) failure places a burden on his family members. Everyone should help in this unfortunate situation. It is critical to monitor and remind elderly people and young children to take their medicine, as the elderly may be forgetful and the young may be immature or irresponsible.

Sometimes the care provided is psychological rather than physical. A careful look, sympathetic advice, or human touch are just as important as the medicine. Caring for sick people at home is not an easy task. People who care for them at home must take on these responsibilities. When the tasks of caring become too much for family members, they may have to employ nurses temporarily. However, the care of loved ones is always most appreciated.

5 . How to support a struggling friend

We’ve all been in situations like this, both big and small and everything in between: from missing the bus to work to struggling with the loss of a loved one. Common wisdom suggests that a problem shared is a problem halved. We really want to help, yet we don’t quite have the words or the tactics.

Research shows that many people don’t really know what works best to help their friends effectively.     1     A survey of the methods that people used to manage their friends’ emotions identified 378 distinct strategies. Given this large variety of strategies, it’s no wonder that deciding what to do when you have a friend in tears can be a little challenging.

The good news is that there are simple strategies you can learn that will help you provide more effective support to your friends.

Ask questions and really listen

Just as playing down a friend’s problem is unwise, so is trying to empathize too quickly. While this impulse is understandable and quite normal, it is also likely to go wrong.     2     So how might you best address the situation instead? A recent research suggests that it would be better to slow down and start by asking directly how your friend is feeling, rather than thinking about how you might feel in a similar situation.

A related technique to try is active listening, which is commonly used by therapists, and relatively simple to implement.     3     For example, your friend might spend some time explaining a series of stressful events across their week, describing arguments with their spouse, a mounting workload and some worries about debt, and you might respond by saying that it sounds like they are overwhelmed both at home and at work right now.

Don’t take charge

If your support is too directive and take-charge, it might make your friends feel like they aren’t able to handle things on their own, like a kid who needs their parent’s help to manage their problems.

Instead, it would have been better to ask them what they want, and how they might be able to change this situation, and then listen to them talk through their options one by one. In doing this, you provide a sounding board for them to take control of the situation on their own.     4     This will help them organise their thoughts and come to some solutions, without feeling like you did it for them.

6 . I still remember how a pet mouse was popular among my classmates in Broadbeach State School. One day, my friends and I decided to buy a pet mouse. The pet shopkeeper wouldn’t sell us one until he got our parents’ letter that could show their permission for us to get a pet. So, having the neatest handwriting, I faked one. The store owner quickly saw through my handwriting and asked me to contact my mother to confirm the situation. My trick quickly failed, and it was all messed up.

My mum got very angry and felt that the punishment should fit the crime. Knowing that my writing was poor and always in need of improvement, she made me write letters to a few randomly selected relatives. One of them was my uncle whom I’d only met a few times when I was a kindergartner. I wrote a long letter detailing my life and listing my interests.

My punishment was complete. I forgot about this until I suddenly got a reply from my uncle.   “How lovely to hear from you,” he said, and went on to tell me all about his life. He’d love to hear about what subjects at school I enjoyed. And so started a correspondence(信件往来)that went on for several years. He turned out to be the most fascinating man.

Then out of the blue, he died. My mum took the phone call and she was shocked. She deeply regretted it as they had not really spoken for years because of their busy life and workload. I went upstairs and produced a box of letters, the last one being from just a few days before he had passed away. My mum began to read them and knew that although she hadn’t been in touch, I had grown close to him by writing to him, which relieved and calmed her. In fact, I then became close to his wife, whom I also wrote to for many years.

I often think about how that one naughty childhood crime led to such an enriching correspondence that stretched on for many years. It encouraged me to write to lots of other people in fact, and it’s something I keep up with to this day. Besides, receiving a letter is such a lovely surprise. Be bold and write to someone you maybe don’t know that well. Who knows where it will lead?

7 . Amy, a day old, was abandoned at a police station in Seoul. Her birth parents couldn’t afford to give Amy the appropriate healthcare then. She spent her first three months in an orphanage before she was adopted. “I always thought, why should I be more thankful to my adoptive parents than the next person?” she says.

In 2011, Amy reconnected with her birth mother in South Korea, her adoptive mum by her side. “My Korean mother took my American mother’s hands in hers and said with tears, ‘Thank you.’ After that, my whole world changed,” Amy says. At the time, she was working in the e-commerce sector and struggling with anxiety, depression and an eating disorder. Reconnecting with her birth family, however made her feel like the luckiest person in the world and she wanted to actively share her good fortune. That year, she quit her job and co-founded the Global Gratitude Alliance, which partners with grassroots organizations to create community-led solutions or social and economic change.

Since then, a reflexive sense of thankfulness has become Amy’s frame of reference for work, relationships and daily life in general. She tried to rethink her world view, appreciate the little things and make connections with others. For Amy, the attitude shift helped her overcome health issues—she didn’t need the drugs any more after she returned from Korea.

Those positive effects inspired Amy to share the experience with others. Through a partnership with a home for orphaned children in Nepal, the Global Gratitude Alliance provided teachers with workshops that concluded with a ceremony of giving thanks. The participants used those techniques to help their students and community after the destructive earthquake of 2015. Children from the school recently visited a local seniors’ home to build relationships with the residents there. “Gratitude creates a cycle of giving and receiving,” Amy says.

8 . “You need to sign this,”   my son Joe informed me. “What is it?”   I asked. Rolling his eyes with a sense of impatience, Joe replied,“   Your permission. And it’s due tomorrow!”

I learned that Joe’s sixth-grade class would be taking a field trip to the state capital. “That sounds like fun,” I said.“ I’ve always wanted to go there.”   “You can’t come!” Joe answered. Puzzled, I asked. “Why not?”   “Because you always come on field trips!”

Of course，I always joined his class on field trips. Being a chaperone(监护人)on a field trip is one of the advantages that comes with being a mom, a vacation day in a career that offers few opportunities for a change of scenery. “You don’t want me to be a chaperone?”   “Give someone else’s mom a chance,” he suggested. What was surprising was how much I minded being so impolitely removed from the short list of willing chaperones by my own son.

When Joe was in kindergarten, his class planned a pretend trip to Norway. The day before the trip,   Joe woke up not feeling well.

After learning that he didn’t have a fever, I asked,   “You don’t want to miss getting ready for the trip to Norway, do you?”   “I guess not,” he said.

But when I picked him up at the end of the day, the teacher whispered, “Joe got a little upset today.”   “What happened?”   “He doesn’t want to go to Norway without you.”   So that was what had been bothering my 5-year-old.He thought his class was really flying to Norway on their wooden chairs in their paper airplane. He believed those passports and tickets he and his classmates had been making were the real deal.

Preadolescence fell upon my family as my husband and I found ourselves preparing for our son’s upcoming teen years with the same trepidation as someone about to climb an ice-covered mountain wearing high heels.

Joe needed to take a field trip without me accompanying him. And I needed to let him.   I’m glad he doesn’t need me all the time.

9 . Healthy family relationships can bring love and security to all family members, which can be one of the greatest blessings parents can give to their children.     1     Here are a few ways to strengthen your family bonds.

Communicate effectively. Good communication is crucial for any healthy relationship as it makes it easier to settle conflicts and build strong connections.     2     Speaking with respect, minding the tone and being considerate while sharing information can become the basis of positive communication.

    3     You can start by doing activities that your family enjoys. This can be a movie night, solving puzzles or simply engaging the family in preparing a meal. Whafs important is that you are fully present in the moment, spending meaningful time with them.

Celebrate little moments. Most families make it a point to celebrate important milestones, birthdays and anniversaries.     4     Seize opportunities to have a good time with the family so that you can build a bank of happy memories.

Work as a team. Discussing things together can help a family emerge with creative solutions. Moreover, family discussions can be used to determine everyone’s responsibility and build trust by respecting every member’s views.     5    

10 . I woke to the sound of birds outside my window and lay in bed, going over the busy day ahead of me. Finally, I got up and attempted to switch on the light — nothing happened. I checked my phone. No Wi-Fi, no data. With our unstable cell service, there was no way of knowing if we had received alerts fbr a power failure. I grabbed a sweater, went downstairs, found a flashlight and a match to light the gas stove, and then boiled water to brew coffee. Outside the window, the falling snow obscured (遮蔽) the sunrise. Deep piles of snow covered the road.

My work meetings and deadlines, my sons’ classes and tests, my husband’s plans — everything would have to wait. Why does this happen today of all days?“ I asked. Thankfully, the wood stove was still going strong. I took a deep breath. I supposed we had everything we needed.

The house was quiet as I sipped my coffee and cuddled (搂抱) our dog. One by one, my husband and sons came downstairs and complained about the turn the day had taken.

I opened the curtains to let light in. We gathered around the table and had cereal. After breakfast, my husband played a game of solitaire. Then my sons joined him in building a house of cards that reached three levels until our cat jumped up to investigate and knocked it down. We played a round of Scrabble and had my favorite snow day lunch: grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Then we took a long walk in the woods behind our house, walking along the stream. We spotted deer tracks and played in the snow that was coming down in big fluffy flakes. When we returned, all the clocks in the house were blinking. I started to make dinner, happy to have things back to normal — even better than normal.

It was a day that began without electricity, cut off from the rest of the world, and ended with hot chocolate and power restored. We were recharged by the unexpected gift of a day together.