I’ve noticed I am the queen of unwanted advice to my     1     children and I’m hardly alone in this.

When they tell me about things that have    2     them, I become a(n)    3     on everything and anything, which I'm obviously not. I can’t help going into Mom mode, “You should ...”, “You need to consider ...”. I want to be part of their lives and    4     them from   making mistakes that are obvious to me. But they just want a listening ear and an open heart. They are not looking for tips and       5       and they may not even want an immediate       6     to their problems. They are looking for a safe place to talk with a person who loves and    7     them. Though we may see ourselves     8     the wisdom of our years with them, they see a controlling parent who hasn’t    9     the fact that they’re adults with their own thoughts and feelings.

But I'm learning very slowly that talking at is not the same as talking with. I’ve decided to become a better parent by being a better listener. It’s not an easy task, but I am    10    .

In our life, we meet quite a lot of people: some just pass by while others can     1     our lives. Miss Bella is such a person. Miss Bella taught me two years only.    2    , she has taught me a lot in many ways.

Every day she began her classes with a smile and a fresh face. She made me realize that warm     3     could change a person. I was shy but I wasn’t     4     in her classes at all. She gave lessons in a     5     wav from other teachers. We had many     6     to talk about problems in English classes. Miss Bella would thumb up (竖起大拇指) to encourage us     7     someone had great ideas. Now, I     8     that I have learned much from her classes. Learning to speak out your ideas is so    9     in society. She also made me realize that I could be myself by showing opinions     10    .