“There's a mother in PICU(儿童重症监护病房)who wants to talk about a kit she received,” the nurse told me. “Something about it made her cry.”

    I've been a child-1ife specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital since 2000. I help families understand diagnoses and treatment plans and manage the ups and downs that come with caring for a sick child. Tough talks with parents are part of the job, which still makes me feel nervous.

    The kits the nurse was talking about were something I had recently introduced to the hospital: Comfort Kits from Guideposts. They were supposed to make a child's experience here easier, not upsetting.

    When I came across the kits at a conference. I fell in love with them. A treasure box of items designed not only to entertain kids, but to comfort and inspire them. There's a coloring book, a stress ball, a CD of relaxing music, a hairy star named Sparkle, a journal and much more. I really believed these kits would help kids. I wished I hadn't been mistaken.

    At the patient's room in PICU I saw a little girl, sleeping soundly, surrounded by tubes and machines. My eyes met her mother's. The kit was open on her lap and tears were running down her cheeks.

    “I'm Shannon. I manage the Child Life Department.” I said. “I'm sorry if the kit upset you .It's a new item…”

    The mother shook her head. “This has been one of the worst days of my life .I felt so scared and alone. Then I was handed this box. I know it's for my daughter, but it's just the comfort I needed. I wanted to say thank you.”

    With that I knew Comfort Kits belonged here. We've been using them for almost three years now. Each child who's admitted to the hospital receives one. Every day I see kids coloring, journaling, playing with Sparkle.

    But as this mom showed me Comfort Kits aren't just for kids. The hope they bring, which can be in short supply in hospitals sometimes, is felt by the whole family.

    When I was 16 years old, I made my first visit to the United States. It wasn't the first time I had been abroad. Like most English children I learned French at school and I had often been to France, so I was used to speaking a foreign language to people who didn't understand English. But when I went to America I was really looking forward to having a nice easy holiday without any language problems.

    How wrong I was! The misunderstanding began at the airport. I was looking for a public telephone to give my American friend Danny a ring and tell her that I had arrived. A friendly old man saw me looking like being lost and asked if he could help me.

    “Yes,” I said. “I want to give my friend a ring.”

    “Well, that's nice,” he said. “Are you getting married? But aren't you a bit young?”

    “Who is talking about marriage?” I replied. “I just want to give my friend a ring to tell her I've arrived. Can you tell me where there's a phone box?”

    “Oh!” he said. “There's a phone downstairs.”

    When at last we did meet up, Danny explained the misunderstanding to me.

    “Don't worry,” she said to me. “I had many difficulties at first. There are lots of words which the Americans use differently in meaning from us British. You'll soon get used to all the funny things they say. But most of the time British and American people can understand each other!”

    When I was younger, I was ridiculously shy to the point where I could not even make eye contact with people I didn't know. If someone greeted me in the hallway, I would lower my head and hurried past. I had always been somewhat anti-social, but, in sixth to eighth grade. I hit rock bottom. After transferring to a new school, halfway through my sixth grade year, I found myself in a room of people I had never met before, with no one to lean on.

    Funnily enough, this would not have been such a big deal if I had connected with their values and interests. However, everyone in my school was much wealthier than me, and focused on partying and fashion which were contrary to my academic interests. Although I had a few acquaintances(熟人), no one seemed to understand me beyond the superficial(表面的)level, unable to share my sometimes dark humor and interest in science fiction.

    Halfway through ninth grade, I was once again thrown into a school of strangers. Making Friends was incredibly difficult, and I sat alone at lunch for the rest of the year. In tenth grade, however, I enrolled in my school's theatre program, where I met some of my closest friends. The theatre forced me to overcome my shyness and taught me to speak up for myself. Furthermore, pretending to be someone else gave me a sense of previously unknown confidence

    Although I have a lot going for me right now, I will never forget the struggles I had to overcome when I was younger. This is why, whenever I see someone struggling or standing by themselves, I always invite them to sit with my friends and me. I may not be able to give hem my full attention all of the time, but the, main point is to let them know someone recognizes their existence and is willing to connect with them.

    Living and dealing with kids can be a tough job these days, but living and dealing with parents can be even tougher.

    If I have learned anything in my 16 years, it is that communication is very important, both when you disagree and when you get along. With any relationship, you need to let other person know how you are feeling. If you are not able to communicate, you drift apart. When you are mad at your parents, or anyone else, not talking to them doesn't solve anything.

    Communication begins with the concerns (关心) of another. It means that you can't just come home from school, go up to your room and ignore (不理睬) everyone. Even if you just say "Hi", and see how their day was for five minutes, it is better than nothing.

    If you looked up the word "communication" in a dictionary, it would say "the exchange of ideas, the conveyance (表达) of information, correspondence (通信), means of communication: a letter or a message". To maintain (保持) a good relationship, you must keep communication strong. Let people know how you feel, even if it's just by writing a note.

    When dealing with parents, you always have to make them feel good about how they are doing as a parent. If you are trying to make them see something as you see it, tell them that you'll listen to what they have to say, but ask them politely to listen to you. Yelling or walking away only makes the situation worse.

    This is an example: one night, Sophie went to a street party with her friends. She knew she had to be home by midnight after the fireworks, but she didn't feel she could just ask to go home. That would be rude. After all, they had been nice enough to take her along with them. Needless to say, she was late getting home. Her parents were mad at first, not when Sophie explained why she was late, they weren't as mad and let the incident go. Communication is the key factor here. If Sophie's parents had not been willing to listen, Sophie would have been in a lot of trouble.

    Communication isn't a one-way deal: it goes both ways. Just remember: if you get into a situation like Sophie's, telling the other person how you feel-listening is the key factor to communication.

An Edinburgh inventor has created a fully biodegradable bottle that is made from paper and a secret combination of plant materials, and it could help save the planet's oceans from plastic pollution and can also be eaten by sea creatures.

The Edinburgh-based Durham University chemistry graduate James Longcroft started a non-profit bottled water company two years ago. He wanted to put all his profits into a charity that provided clean drinking water to countries in Africa.

However, after concerns about the environmental impact of plastic bottles, Mr. Longcroft decided the Edinburgh and London-based company, Choose Water, should go plastic-free. So he came up with a new type of water bottle—a waterproof paper bottle.

"The outside is made from recycled paper, but the inside has to be waterproof, and provides strength so the bottle would keep its structure, and keep the water fresh," Mr. Longcroft said.

When the bottle is thrown in the ocean the degrading process begins within hours leaving the bottle totally degraded (分解)within weeks. The steel cap breaks down within a year.

Mr. Longcroft now believes these novel bottles could revolutionise the industry and says the cost of producing the bottle is around 5 pence more than one made from single-use plastic.

"The main difficulty we face is breaking into a saturated (饱和的)market and competing with an old industry," he said. "Changing an industry will be a big uphill battle, but with the support from the public, we will change the way we look at bottled water."

Researchers warn that eight million tonnes of plastics currently find their way into the ocean every year which will stay in the environment for centuries.

"We really want to get our bottles on shelves and into people's hands as soon as possible—if we can stop even one plastic bottle ending up in the environment it will be worth it," said Mr Longcroft.

Through My Modern Met Academy, our online learning platform, you'll be inspired in classes taught by industry experts. Learn mixed media skills to take your work to a new level! 

Intermediate Embroidery (刺绣)

With the help of artist Floor Giebels, you'll get gradual instructions on how to craft embroidery on printed cloth. Giebels will show you how to combine embroidery with cloth decorated with a photograph. Using that as the base, she'll go into techniques for stitching (缝) over the image and finishing your frame for display. 

Cost/Time: $34.95/1.3h 

Architectural Illustration for Everyone

Artist Demi Lang will take you through the process of drawing structures step-by-step. You'll learn how to choose your tools and paper, and analyze the project's photo. The final assignment is a row of three buildings, which Lang will go through first in line drawing lessons, then inking over the sketch (素描), and adding color to bring it to life. 

Cost/Time: $45.95/ 3.3h 

Beyond Botanicals

In Anna Zakirova's class, she shares the secrets to creating flawless pressed flowers and leaves and using them as the basis for original artwork. Intended for beginners, her class starts with a detailed introduction to the proper tools and continues with an example of how to turn several types of flowers into an artwork. 

Cost/Time: $34.95/ 56min 

Introduction to Pet Photography

Taught by pet photographer Belinda Richards, this class offers in-depth guidance of shooting a gorgeous picture of your dog in a studio setting. Richards will break down how to work with your dog, photograph it, and edit your image. This class is meant for someone who already owns a DSLR camera and has a basic understanding of Photography.