My daughter Kelly is a cautious person. She needs to warm up to situations' and is hesitant to try new things. When with close friends, she becomes a leader who laughs loudly and chants, “Girls rule, boys drool.” But when that comfort zone is not around her, she is shy and nervous.

    This has been challenging for me at times. “Shy” is not a word that I think has ever been used to describe me. But this has been a year of firsts for my girl that has filled her with a new sense of confidence. This year she moved to lap lane in swimming where she was preparing for a swim team. This year she learned to ride a bike without training wheels. And this year she completed her first kids' triathlon (三项全能).

    On Saturday, with a thunderstorm coming soon and my son's birthday party later in the day, we all went out in the dark of the morning for Kelly to participate in her first triathlon. We practiced transitions from swim to bike to run with her, we got all the equipment she'd need, and we kept talking about the race. But as we waited the two hours for the older kids to finish before her turn, she held my leg a little harder and told me she loved me a few too many times. She was nervous but trying to keep it together.

    And then it was her turn. From the second she jumped into the water, my heart soared. My daughter transformed into the most confident human being I had ever seen. She dominated that swim, crushed that bike ride and ran to the finish with the biggest smile on her face.

    I can honestly say that I never felt so proud of someone in my entire life. It wasn't because she did a sport or anything like that. It was because she was afraid of something and conquered that fear with confidence and a fire I hadn't seen before.

    All day I would find myself just looking over at her and smiling. She might be wearing the finalist medal but I felt like I won that day. I won the chance to see my girl shine.

Shine on, sweet baby.

    October 15^this the Global Handwashing Day. Activities are planned in more than 20 countries to get millions of people in the developing world to wash their hands with soap. For example, donors(捐赠者) will give 150,000 bars of soap to schools in Ethiopia.

    Experts say people around the world wash their hands every day, but very few use soap at so-called important moments. These include after using the toilet, after cleaning a baby and before touching food.

    Global Handwashing Day is the idea of the Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap. Partners include the United Nations Children's Fund, American government agencies, the World Bank and soap makers Unlever and Procter and Gamble. The organizers say all soaps are equally effective at removing disease-causing germ(细菌). They say the correct way to wash is to wet your hands with a small amount of water and cover them with soap. Rub(揉搓) it into all areas, including under the fingernails(指甲). Rub for at least twenty seconds. Then rinse well under running water. Finally, dry your hands with a clean cloth or wave them in the air.

    The Partnership for Handwashing says soap is important because it increases the time that people spend in washing hands. Soap also helps to break up the dirt that holds most of the germs. And it usually leaves a pleasant smell. The Partnership for Handwashing also says washing with soap before eating or after using the toilet could save more lives than any vaccine(疫苗)or medicine. Hand washing could also prevent the spread of other diseases. When people get germs on their hands, they can infect(感染)themselves by touching their eyes, noses or mouths. Then they can infect others.

    Fourth-grader Alice Tapper was on a school field trip when she noticed that most of the girls quietly stayed at the back of the group, while the boys gathered at the front and raised their hands to answer questions. The 11-year-old then realized how often she and her female classmates didn't speak up in class for fears of getting an answer wrong and being embarrassed.

    She decided to change this and launched a campaign to encourage girls to have faith in themselves, even take risks and be leaders —— and support other girls in doing the same. With assistance from her Girl Scout troop (女童子军), she created a new Raise Your Hand program, and soon girls around the country were taking a pledge(承诺) to raise their hands in class.

    In my work as an administration coach I see many women (and some men) with habits that are holding them back. Women at work tend to hang back in meetings for fear they may not have the right answer. They will spend countless hours (and sometimes days) replaying the tapes in their head, while males in similar situations simply move on, until they are perfect when instead they should be establishing relationships. The truth is that after a year no one remembers your nice report. Forget perfect. It doesn't exist. Say what's on your mind and let things go.

    Similarly, women tend to talk more softly than men, which can be problematic, especially the higher up in the organization you go. To have an influence on business, it's not enough to have a seat at the table. You have to have a voice and people have to hear from you. Don't wait for an invitation. Raise your hand, say what you have to say, and when you see an opportunity, go for it!

    MacArthur's love for sailing dates back to when she was just four years of age, when she first got the opportunity to have a try. "I'll never forget that feeling as a kid of setting foot on a boat for the first time," MacArthur said. "It's kind of struck me that this boat had everything we needed to take us anywhere in the world. And as a child, that opened up everything," she explained how it felt like the "greatest sense of freedom".

    This experience lighted a passion within MacArthur. She knew then that she wanted to sail around the world. She had no idea how to achieve it — growing up in the countryside, it wasn't the most obvious career path — but she knew that was what she wanted to do at some stage. So, she acquired knowledge and saved up for years to seek a career in sailing. She would have potato and beans every day for eight years so that she could save up to buy the right equipment. By reaching certain financial goals and asking technical questions about sailing, MacArthur felt as though she was getting closer to her ambitions.

    "When you know where you're going, you can actually get there — even if it seems impossible. The impossible could be possible and aiming high is not necessarily such a crazy thing to do." And it seems that MacArthur's drive to become a sailor went beyond her expectations. At the age of 24, she started to receive media attention after participating in the Vendee Globe, a single-handed non-stop yacht (游艇) race that goes around the world. She came in second place. Some three to four years later, MacArthur chose to sail for 71 days and 14 hours, covering more than 26,000 miles during the course of her journey. This led to MacArthur scoring a new world record in 2005, as the fastest person to sail around the globe single-handedly. While this record has since been surpassed, MacArthur is still considered as Britain's most successful off shore racer.

    Bullgatortail 10 minutes ago

    I particularly enjoy the works of Greenwich Village poet Edward Field, whose interest in cinema led to a number of poems based on old monster movies (including many about Frankenstein and my favorite, Curse of the Cat Woman).

    Litteacher 8 29 minutes ago

    There are so many to choose from! I love Robert Frost, especially "Mending Wall", mostly because he is my dad's favorite poet. However, personally I love Lnagston Hughes's poem "Dreams" because it always brings happiness to me. I am also a big fan of the older poems, such as Spenser's "One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon the Strand" because it is so simple, and "The Tyger" and "The Lamb" by William Blake because I love the language.

    Michael Ugulini 51 minutes ago

    My favorite poet is Suji Kwock Kim. Ever since I read her book of poetry "Notes from the Divided Country", I have been a big fan of her clear and thoughtful writing. My favorite poem of hers is "Borderlands", which she wrote in memory of her grandmother. It is a poem about her grandmother's experiences during the war.

    Loraaa 1 hour ago

    Hard to decide! But if I have to, I'd say Emily Dickinson. Her life was so wonderful and her opinions about life are also interesting. Her understanding of nature speaks to the heart of anyone who loves the outdoors! Dickinson also understood human nature very well. Her poems speak of love, loneliness, ect. Finally, my favorite poem by her is "I Never Saw a Moor". I love her thoughts!

Target Car Seat Trade-in Event

Frequently Asked Questions:

·What is the car seat trade-in program?

Guests who trade in their old car seats will receive a 20 percent off coupon toward a new car seat.

·What type of car seat qualifies for a trade-in?

Target will accept and recycle all types of car seats, including: baby car seats, car seat bases, as well as car seats that are damaged. Guests will receive a 20 percent off coupon for trading in any one of these items.

·Where do I bring my old car seat to trade in?

Car seats can be traded in at any of the Target stores. Target will have drop-off boxes for guests' unwanted car seats located near Guest Services.

·How do I redeem(兑现) the coupon offer?

Coupons can be applied to both in-store and online purchases and are valid(有效的) until May 31.

·What does Target do with the car seats that are traded in?

Materials from the old car seats will be recycled by Target's partner, Waste Management, to create new products such as plastic plates, plastic buckets and construction materials such as steel beams and carpet padding.

·Is this the first time Target has had car seat trade-in program?

Target introduced its first car seat trade-in program in April 2016. Since the program launched, more than 789, 000 car seats, or 11. 98 million pounds of car seats, have been recycled.