At heart, parents always wish the best for their children, and they work hard for that. Nowadays, we see parents deciding the schools for their little ones before the baby is even born. Once kids starts going to school, some parents want to have a time-to-time update(最新的情况) of their kid's activities. They want to come to their classroom every day, keep an eye on whom they talk to, know the friends they keep, start telling them how to do their jobs, and keep talking to them about everything under the sun. Besides, they send their kids to extra hobby classes, as they want their children to do best in every field.

    When it comes to the education, super mum and dad have all the plans made for their children, and I am sure that they have come up with the best. So, try to fight for the dreams that your parents have seen for you. However, in some cases, it may happen that the kids have some different dreams. Parents sometimes don't even consider the choices of their kids and may force them to do what they wanted to do in life. It's good to plan the future for the children, but leave at least some decisions to them.

    So what should the children do? First, hear out all the plans that your parents have made for you. If you have some different ideas, then sit down and talk to your family about it. Be patient and respect their decisions, but put your plan forth, and make them understand what you want to do and why. Many times, you don't know the difficulties that you may have to face while pursuing your dreams. Ask your parents for suggestions, which will make them feel good and involved. That way, they may support you if you are going on the right path.

    If you like texting and are trying to lose weight, a new study found that using texting(发短信) to track diet and exercise habits may help you lose weight.

    Previous research has shown that keeping food and exercise diaries improves the likelihood of success when you are using it to lose weight. Using a computer or a pen and paper to record information, however, can be a burden and cause some people to give up.

    Duke University researchers said using text messages to track eating and exercise habits can save time, and increase the chances that people will stick with their weight-loss rules.

    The study included 26 obese/fat women with an average age of 38. The women used daily texting as part of their weight-loss program. The text messages focused on tracking personalized goals, such as avoiding sugary drinks or walking 10,000 steps a day. Messages also provided brief feedback (反馈) and tips.

    Every morning, the women received a text from an automated system that said, “Please text yesterday's personal information of steps you walked and how many sugary drinks you had.” Based on the women's responses to the text message, the system sent another text with personalized feedback and tips.

    After six months, the women who used daily texting lost an average of nearly 3 pounds, while another group of women who used traditional methods to keep food and exercise diaries gained an average of 2.5 pounds, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

    “Text messaging has become popular and may be an effective method to simplify tracking of diet and exercise behavior,” Dori Steinberg, who was responsible for this research, said.

    Steinberg said, “Text messaging offers several advantages compared to other self-monitoring methods. Unlike web-based diet and exercise diaries, data in a text message can be entered quickly on nearly all cell phone platforms so it is very convenient to receive feedback. Besides, because of the limited number of words used in text messages, it saves time.”

    The theatre in Shakespeare's time was much different than it is today. Authors wrote plays for the masses, especially those who couldn't read or write.

    The theatre changed a lot during Shakespeare's lifetime. The authorities didn't like it and didn't allow acting in the city itself: They thought it had a bad influence on people and kept them from going to church. Queen Elizabeth, on the other hand, loved acting and helped the theatre become popular.

    The theatre in Shakespeare's time was full of life. People did not sit all the time and it was not quiet during the performance. The audience could walk around, eat and drink during the play.

    Theaters were open arenas or playhouses that had room for up to three thousand people. There was almost no scenery because the dialogue was the most important part of the play. Colourful and well-designed costumes were very important and told the people about the status of a character. Women never performed in plays, 80 young boys played female characters. The performances took place in the afternoon because it was too dark at night.

    There was no stage crew as there is today. Actors had to do everything themselves-from making costumes to setting the stage. Plays were organized by acting companies. They performed about 6 different plays each week because they needed money to survive. They had almost no time to rehearse (排练).

    The companies in Shakespeare's time had a rank system. The company belonged to shareholders and managers. They were responsible for everything and got most of the money when the company was successful. Sometimes they even owned their own buildings. Actors worked for the managers and after some time became a permanent member of the company. Apprentices (学徒) were young boys and were allowed to act in unimportant role. They also played female characters in plays.

    Recently, a 1935 letter in which Ernest Hemingway detailed his catch of a 500lb blue marlin(青枪鱼), an adventure that is believed to have partly inspired his novel The Old Man and the Sea, has been sold for﹩28, 000 (£22, 000).

    The handwritten letter was sent by Hemingway on 8 May to the fishing editor of the Miami Herald, laying out in great detail how the author and his friend Henry Strater battled to keep sharks away from the marlin after catching it off the Bahamian island of Bimini.

    Nate D Sanders, the auction(拍卖) company which sold the letter, said it documented for the first time in Hemingway's own words not only the size of the marlin, but also the attack by sharks, reflecting the plot of the novel.

    The company added that Hemingway's account of the marlin catch differed from other anecdotes of it, one of which described Hemingway using a machine gun on the sharks, which is said to have attracted more sharks rather than frightened them away.

    The Old Man and the Sea was also inspired by an anecdote told by Hemingway's Cuban friend Carlos Gutierrez. In 1936, Hemingway wrote in a magazine that Carlos had told him about an old fisherman who caught a great marlin alone.

    Three years later, Hemingway told his editor Max Perkins that he was planning a short story about the old commercial fisherman who fought the swordfish all alone in his sailing boat. Instead, he ended up writing For Whom the Bell Tolls, not returning to the story about the old fisherman until January 1951. It won him the Pulitzer in 1953, and was specifically cited when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1954.

    Your teenage best friend could be good for your long-term mental health, according to a new study published in the journal Child Development According to the findings, teenagers aged 15 to 16 who had a close friendship rather than a larger group of friends they were less close to had a greater sense of self-worth by the time they were 25 years old. Those people with a very close best friend were also less likely to experience depression and social anxiety, the study found.

    "Close friendship strength in mid-adolescence predicted relative increases in self-worth and decreases in anxiety and depressive symptoms by early adulthood, "the authors, led by Rachel K, Narr, a postdoctoral student focused on clinical psychology at the University of Virginia, wrote.

    A past research has suggested that adolescent friendships are important. Friendships during the teenage years predict academic success and improved mental health. But the new research further explores the type of friendships teenagers have. "My hunch(预感)was that close friendships compared to broader friendship groups and popularity may not function the same way," Narr told Quartz. "Being successful in one is not the same as being successful in the other."

    Many study participants did not continue to have a close relationship with their high-school best friend, leading the researchers to wonder what exactly was responsible for the mental health benefits. They suspected that the skills and ability to build such a friendship may be more important than the friendship itself.

    And as the researchers point out, those skills are not necessarily brought to bear in the world of social media. "As technology makes it increasingly easy to build a social network of shallow friends, focusing time and attention on developing close connections with a few individuals should be a priority," study co-author Joseph Allen said in a statement.

Many families take their children on vacation. They will usually travel for a few days or weeks during school breaks. But Julie and Tim Smith planned a longer vacation with their two children. The Smith family is on a one-year trip around the world. They plan to visit 30 countries in all. Right now, the four travelers are about halfway through their trip. Ms. Smith says they are trying to see as much of the world as they can.

Mr. Smith says one of the most interesting experiences of the trip has been meeting new people. He says people have been extremely friendly, very welcoming and love their kids. Eleven-year-old Tyler says he has enjoyed learning about the people they have met. He said, "I learned in Africa that people have very different lifestyles than in America. "His sister, 9-year-old Kara, discovered that she liked Thai food. Ms. Smith says that the trip teaches the children a lot.

It took the family a year to prepare for the trip. They had to sell their house and cars. Ms. Smith left her job and her husband is using unpaid leave. They carry small bags filled with lightweight clothing and whatever else they need. Ms. Smith says she enjoys being able to carry everything she needs on her back. She says she does not miss the things she has back home. "What has become more important is making these memories as a family and taking those with us instead."

The Smiths will continue to head east for the next six months.