Back in the days of cavemen, if a stranger wandered into your camp claiming they could make fire, you'd probably be skeptical at first. Your first reaction would be to assess whether this new person was trustworthy or posed a danger to the tribe. Then, once you realized they weren't dangerous, you could try to suss out whether they were actually good at making fire.Once the newcomer proved trustworthy and competent, you'd probably strike a deal, trading some bearskin for a roaring fire.These evolutionary tendencies to assess trustworthiness first and competence second are among the most practical findings from Harvard University's research on first impressions. In fact, Harvard's Program on Negotiation found that warmth and competence account for roughly 80% of our judgements of others. A woman meeting her new coworkers.via Canva/PhotosTherefore, if you want to make a great first impression, whether in a job interview, on a blind date, or on a retail floor, it's essential to communicate warmth and competence."If someone you're trying to influence doesn't trust you, you're not going to get very far; in fact, you might even elicit suspicion because you come across as manipulative," Amy Cuddy, a professor at Harvard Business School, told Business Insider. "A warm, trustworthy person who is also strong elicits admiration, but only after you've established trust does your strength become a gift rather than a threat."How to communicate warmth and competenceStep 1: Communicate warmthCuddy suggests that when you meet new people, you approach them with calm warmth. Avoid appearing overly eager, and use a reassuring tone that signals sincerity."Aim for a tone that suggests that you're leveling with people—that you're sharing the straight scoop, with no pretense or emotional adornment," Cuddy writes. "In doing so, you signal that you trust those you're talking with to handle things the right way."You can also create a sense of warmth by nodding as they speak and maintaining an open posture. At the beginning of the conversation, sharing a quick personal anecdote can help build rapport. A man and woman meeting for the first time.via Canva/PhotosStep 2: Communicate competenceWhen you're communicating competence to a new acquaintance, they don't have your resume in hand or references from your past relationships. One of the most effective ways to project competence, then, is through your posture."Stand up straight. It is hard to overstate the importance of good posture in projecting authority and an intention to be taken seriously," Cuddy writes. "As Maya Angelou wrote, 'Stand up straight and realize who you are, that you tower over your circumstances.'"Cuddy adds that good posture communicates strength and competence without sacrificing warmth: "Standing tall is an especially good way to project strength because it doesn't interfere with warmth in the way that other signals of strength—cutting gestures, a furrowed brow, an elevated chin—often do."The caveman analogy offers a useful way to think about meeting new people. You have to earn their trust before you can help them build a fire. While this strategy may feel a bit awkward at first, Cuddy believes that persistence pays off. "The strategies we suggest may seem awkward at first, but they will soon create a positive feedback loop," she writes.

Poet Robert Frost created inspiring poems that are beloved around the world. Frost was known for his simple yet deep style of poetry, and, although he didn't publish his first book until he was 40, he went on to earn four Pulitzer Prizes.He created a body of work that continues to touch people. Yet, like many great artists, Frost struggled with his mental health throughout his life. (Frost was born in 1874 and died in 1963.) William & Mary English Professor and Frost biographer Henry Hart found that many of Frost's relatives struggled with schizophrenia as well as depression."Throughout his life, he struggled to fit in. His education was irregular, routinely disrupted when Frost dropped out after suffering attacks of anxiety and depression that expressed themselves in various physical ailments," notes the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). - YouTube www.youtube.com Frost experienced many hardships during his life, beginning at a young age. His father William Prescott Frost, Jr., died when he was just 11 years old. His sister Jeanie would later suffer from mental illness, and died in a mental hospital.Frost would go on to marry his high school girlfriend, Elinor White, in 1895. The couple had six children, a blessing that came with loads of tragedy."Four of Frost’s six children died before he did, including Carol, the son who committed suicide. Frost’s daughter Irma suffered mental problems that required hospitalization, and Elinor battled anxiety, too. She died of heart failure in 1938," according to the NEH. "Frost’s own bouts of depression brought physical and mental anguish. 'Cast your eye back over my family luck, and perhaps you will wonder if I haven’t had pretty near enough,' he lamented at one point." - YouTube www.youtube.com His wife Elinor was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1937, and died in 1938 from heart disease. "She had been the unspoken half of everything I ever wrote," Frost said. He would go on to live 26 more years without her.Through these challenges, Frost developed resilience and perseverance. One of his most famous quotes describes his advice on how he pushed through:"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."The quote is reported to come from a September 1954 interview with journalist Ray Josephs for This Week Magazine. During the interview, Josephs asks Frost, "In all your years and all your travels, what do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned about life?" - YouTube www.youtube.com From there, Frost shared his wise insights."He paused a moment, then with the twinkle sparkling under those brambly eyebrows he replied: 'In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on. In all the confusions of today, with all our troubles . . . with politicians and people slinging the word fear around, all of us become discouraged . . . tempted to say this is the end, the finish. But life — it goes on. It always has. It always will. Don’t forget that.'"Frost died at age 88 in 1963 and was buried in Bennington, Vermont, next to his wife Elinor. Honest about life's struggles to the end, Frost's gravestone reads: "I had a lover's quarrel with the world."

If you were home sick from school in the '90s, you likely didn't have much to do. Your friends weren't around, and you couldn't risk getting them sick anyway. And if you felt well enough to play video games or roam outside, your parents probably argued you had enough energy to sit through science class. That left one obvious option: sprawl out under the covers, thermometer in your mouth, belly full of crackers and Sprite, and watch whatever TV shows happened to be on.This daytime programming might have felt like transmissions from an alien world. After all, you typically weren't even home to watch the game shows, soap operas, and talk shows that filled morning and early afternoon TV. Looking back now, many '90s kids feel a sparkly nostalgia for this retro entertainment, much of which has faded into the pop-culture rearview mirror, if not been forgotten entirely.Here are five series that make adults of a certain age look back fondly on their "sick at home" days. (Disclaimer: We're not including The Price Is Right. It's the ultimate example—too obvious.) - YouTube www.youtube.com Judge JudyReality court shows were a big thing in the '90s, and Judge Judy remains the most iconic, having run from 1996 through 2021.Its namesake star was Judith Sheindlin, whom New York Magazine once described as a "tart-tongued, bouffant-headed fury." She presided over small-claims disputes with a satisfyingly no-BS style. The show became a ratings smash and one of the highest-rated programs in syndication, and it wasn't only kids home with the flu tuning in. After Judge Judy ended its run, Sheindlin launched another courtroom series, Judy Justice, on Amazon's streaming platform Freevee."Judge Judy at 3pm, man," one person wrote in a Reddit thread about sick-day TV. "That was the s—." - YouTube www.youtube.com Ricki LakeThere were so many daytime talk shows in the '90s: Maury, The Jerry Springer Show, and the long-running Oprah Winfrey Show. Younger viewers today, however, may be less familiar with Ricki Lake, which aired from 1993 to 2004."The conflicts of real people are what people want to watch," Lake told The Los Angeles Times, explaining her vision for the show, which tackled topics like relationship turmoil and family drama, often with a more youthful slant. In 1995, Time wrote that "[h]er impact on TV has been enormous." Lake, who has also worked as an actor, later went on to host another talk show, the short-lived The Ricki Lake Show (2012–2013), and appeared on several reality TV series, including The Masked Singer and Dancing With the Stars."Ricki Lake because 1. That was my mom's favorite and 2. That intro song f---ng hits," one Redditor recalled. Others added, "The results are in!" and "I literally can't choose over Jenny Jones, Ricki Lake, Maury or Jerry." - YouTube www.youtube.com Allegra's WindowNickelodeon was a staple for many '90s kids, airing innovative cartoons alongside goofy but endearing live-action shows. Not everyone remembers the short-lived Allegra's Window, however, which ran from 1994 to 1996 and blended live actors with puppets and animation in the style of Sesame Street.There's a real sweetness and innocence to the show, which follows a little-girl puppet named Allegra as she navigates daily life. (Fun fact: One of the show's co-creators was Jim Jinkins, who later went on to create the beloved Nickelodeon animated series Doug.)"Holy s---! I forgot all about this," one Redditor wrote. "I remember this being on whenever I would stay home sick from school…" - YouTube www.youtube.com WingsIt's a strange sitcom setting: Wings, which ran from 1990 to 1997 on NBC, starred Tim Daly and Steven Weber as pilots operating a one-plane airline in Nantucket.As Variety reported in 1995, Wings truly took off through reruns: "Instead of dropping off in the ratings during their regular primetime run on NBC, the original episodes of Wings actually took flight in the Nielsens—the show went from being a modest success to a genuine winner, a vital cog in NBC's powerhouse Thursday sitcom block."If you were home sick in the '90s, you may have caught some of those reruns yourself."Price is Right in the morning," one Redditor wrote. "Wings on the small tv while eating ramen or soup at the kitchen table. Then later Maury while laying on the couch." - YouTube www.youtube.com Classic ConcentrationConcentration, a game show spun off from the classic card memory game, enjoyed an impressively long run from 1958 to 1991, with various hosts passing the torch over the years. The last in line was Alex Trebek, who helmed a revival titled Classic Concentration from 1987 to 1991. (Wild fact: He did this while simultaneously hosting Jeopardy! and, briefly, To Tell the Truth.) Like the original, contestants solved puzzles by translating visual clues into words—a perfect setup for moments of minimal brain power."Classic Concentration," one Redditor added. "Alex Trebek's other game show gig. I loved it! Used to make my own version of the board and have my cousin as my only contestant." - YouTube www.youtube.com

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When New Mexico rolled out its landmark universal child care program, most headlines focused on working parents. But tucked into the policy is a quieter, deeply meaningful change: grandparents who are raising their grandchildren can now access free child care, even if they are retired or no longer in the workforce. For thousands of families across the state, this shift is more than a regulatory tweak. It is a recognition of reality. New Mexico has the highest rate of grandparents and other relatives caring for children in the nation. Between 2021 and 2023, about eight percent of children in the state were living in kinship care, more than double the national average of three percent. Many of these grandparents stepped in during moments of crisis, often with little warning and limited financial support. Why grandparents were previously shut out In most states, child care subsidies are tied to work or school requirements. Caregivers must prove they are employed or enrolled in education to qualify. That framework left many grandparents out. As state officials gathered input from families over the past two years, the same story surfaced again and again. Grandparents who had taken on parenting roles later in life did not qualify for assistance because they were retired. Many were living on fixed incomes, facing the physical demands of caring for young children, and struggling to cover child care costs that can exceed $13,000 a year. New Mexico’s substance abuse crisis has intensified this need. According to the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation, about 16 percent of the state’s adult, non-senior population struggles with substance abuse. In 2021, New Mexico ranked first in alcohol-related deaths and sixth in drug overdose deaths nationwide. These realities have pushed many grandparents into caregiving roles unexpectedly. At the same time, roughly one in three grandparents raising grandchildren in the state lives at or below the poverty line. A policy designed to reflect real families Under the new universal child care rules, grandparents with legal custody or kinship guardianship are explicitly exempt from work and school requirements. That change makes them newly eligible for free care. “We wanted grandparents to see that we see them and that we recognize they are doing hero’s work by taking care of their grandchildren,” said Elizabeth Groginsky, New Mexico’s cabinet secretary for early childhood education. Other states offer limited exemptions for kinship caregivers. Grace Reef, president of the Early Learning Policy Group, notes that 21 states have some version of this policy. But those exemptions are often buried in complex regulations. New Mexico’s approach stands out for its simplicity and scale. “New Mexico’s approach is simpler and more universally applicable to grandparents, helping reduce confusion and barriers for grandparents seeking child care access for their family,” said Anne Hedgepeth, senior vice president of policy and research at Child Care Aware of America. Early signs of impact Before the universal program launched, about 916 children in grandparent-led households received child care assistance in fiscal year 2025. In just the first three weeks of the new system, 61 additional grandparent-headed households were approved for care. For advocates and providers, the change is long overdue. Barbara Tedrow, who owns five child care centers in Farmington, said she often felt compelled to waive tuition for grandparents who suddenly found themselves caring for toddlers they could not afford to enroll. “They were older, and they weren’t working. They were in their 70s taking care of a two-year-old,” Tedrow said. “There was no way they could afford the tuition. So we as providers were normally just letting them come for free.” Tedrow added that consistent care is especially important for children who have already experienced trauma. “Let this child at least stay during their core hours getting fed, getting nurtured, educated, playing with other children their age,” she said. “‘I’m 70. I don’t know where to go find two-year-olds for my granddaughter to play with.’” What grandparents say they really need Jovanna Archuleta, early childhood program director at the LANL Foundation, said grandparents consistently emphasize flexibility. Many do not need full-day care every day. What they need is relief. “They need respite care,” Archuleta said. “They need drop-in spots and times where they can just have time for themselves.” One grandparent quoted in the LANL report described days packed with school drop-offs, meals, laundry, homework, and bedtime routines. “By the way I am 70 and a disabled vet, and a widow,” she wrote. Caring for young children is demanding at any age. For older adults, it can be even more physically and emotionally exhausting. The biggest challenge ahead: capacity Policy alone does not create child care slots. New Mexico now faces the challenge of building enough capacity to meet demand. Even before universal care, about 80 percent of children were eligible for assistance, yet only around 35 percent of eligible children under age five actually received it. Long waitlists, limited provider participation, and a shrinking number of home-based providers have all contributed to gaps. From 2010 to 2025, New Mexico saw registered home-based providers drop from 4,840 to just 821. To meet demand, the state estimates it needs 55 new child care centers and 1,120 additional home-based providers. To get there, New Mexico is offering low-interest loans from a $13 million fund to expand or build centers, raising reimbursement rates, and streamlining payments to providers. It has also reduced some barriers for home-based providers, though challenges remain. “The majority of those families live with extended family or roommates,” said Lucy Leon, a former home-based provider. “From the jump it’s like, ‘There’s no way I’m going to do a background check for my husband, my son, and much less a coworker.’ That’s another great barrier.” A model with national implications New Mexico’s universal child care program is funded through years of preparation, including oil and gas tax revenues and a voter-approved constitutional amendment championed by Latinas in the state. The early childhood fund has grown from $320 million in 2020 to $10 billion today. As states like New York and Georgia explore similar proposals, advocates are watching closely. Nationwide, the number of grandparents raising grandchildren has been rising for 25 years, driven in part by the opioid epidemic. “If we are going to invest a huge amount of money into a universal child care system, let’s hold an ambitious goal for what it delivers to families,” said Natalie Renew, executive director of Home Grown. “I don’t think it’s going to be easy, but I think it is possible.” For New Mexico’s grandparents, the message is already clear. The state has acknowledged their role, their sacrifice, and their need for support. And for families built on love rather than paperwork, that recognition matters.   Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM It’s the start of a new year, and your air fryer is probably still sitting proudly on the kitchen counter, waiting for its next round of sweet potato fries. But if your resolution was to “eat healthier” in 2026, you might want to ask yourself: Is your air fryer actually helping? Spoiler: It can, but only if you use it right. While air fryers are often hyped as miracle machines that turn junk food into superfood, the truth is, they’re only as healthy as what you put inside them. If you’re tossing in pre-fried nuggets and calling it clean eating, well, the air fryer can’t save you. But if you learn to use it wisely, it can definitely help you make lighter, faster, and still seriously tasty meals. Here’s what nutrition experts (and one very well-used test kitchen) say about getting the most out of your air fryer without giving up the foods you love. Why air frying is actually healthier when done right Air fryers use rapid hot air circulation to cook food, which means you get that crispy, golden finish without needing to deep fry. “Because you use little to no added fat, the calories and saturated fat in your meals can be greatly reduced compared to traditional frying,” says Stefani Sassos, MS, RDN, and the Nutrition and Fitness Director at the Good Housekeeping Institute. Translation: crunch without the grease coma. Air frying has also been shown to reduce harmful air pollutants that can be released when you cook with lots of oil over high heat. Studies suggest it releases fewer volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and less particulate matter than pan-frying, making it a win for your lungs and your arteries. Still, not everything that comes out of an air fryer gets a gold star. For example, bacon air-fried is still… bacon. (Sorry.) And yes, there’s some chatter around acrylamide, a chemical that forms when food is cooked at high heat, but there’s no solid research on its impact on humans yet. For now, experts agree: the overall quality of your diet matters far more than any one cooking method. 5 ways to make your air fryer meals actually healthy These tips from the pros will help you keep your food fresh, flavorful, and genuinely good for you. 1. Cook real food This may sound obvious, but your air fryer isn’t a magic wand. If you start with mystery meat or frozen snacks, don’t expect a miracle. Sassos recommends loading up on whole ingredients like broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, bell peppers, asparagus, sweet potatoes, and even frozen veggies with just a spray of oil and seasoning. As for protein, lean meats like chicken breast, turkey, and fish get high marks. Just skip the pre-fried or sauce-laden options. “Chicken wings are a great place to start,” says Nicole Papantoniou, Director of the Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab at Good Housekeeping. Her go-to method? Air fry them at 400°F for 20 minutes with just salt and a light oil coating. Simple. Delicious. Zero mystery ingredients. 2. Pick the right oil Yes, you still need oil, just less of it, and the right kind. “For higher-heat cooking above 350°F, avocado oil is a good option. For lower heat, go with extra-virgin olive oil,” says Caitlin Sloane, MS, RDN, a nutritionist based in Portland, Oregon. Both oils have anti-inflammatory benefits and support heart health. Papantoniou recommends Colavita olive oil spray, especially since it comes in fun flavors. Bonus tip: Use your own oil in a refillable sprayer to cut back even more. 3. Don’t drown your food A little goes a long way here. Think of oil as a supporting character, not the main event. A light spritz or quick brush is usually all you need. Papantoniou adds that if you’re cooking something frozen, processed, or naturally fatty, you can get away with even less oil. So no, your cauliflower doesn’t need to be swimming in EVOO. 4. Get the temperature right High heat isn’t always better. “Most foods work well at 400°F, but if something’s thick or takes longer to cook, drop it to 370–375°F,” says Papantoniou. Going hotter can lead to nutrient loss, and nobody wants dry salmon or burnt Brussels sprouts in the name of health. 5. Meal prep just got easier One of the biggest wellness wins of the air fryer? It makes home cooking faster and way less intimidating. “It’s a fast and easy cooking technique for busy individuals and families,” says Sloane, who notes that making meals less stressful is a health benefit in itself. Because yes, emotional wellbeing counts too. So, is air frying healthy? In short: it can be. Air frying cuts down on oil, simplifies cooking, and gives you full control over what goes in your meals; a big deal if you’re trying to clean up your eating habits. But let’s be real: healthy eating is about what you cook, not just how you cook it. Use fresh ingredients, quality oils, and a light hand, and your air fryer will be your best kitchen wingman in 2026. Just don’t expect your pizza rolls to magically turn into a superfood. But hey, enjoy them anyway.     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.