纽约时报 不要和你的孩子一起玩(1)

 

 

    My older son recently made a vending¹ machine out of a cardboard box. My daughter created clothing for her Barbies out of paper and tape.

    我的大儿子最近用纸板箱做了一台自动售货机。我女儿用纸和胶带为她的芭比娃娃做了衣服。

    My baby went through the hall closet, describing the shoes in a babble² that was only one-eighth English.

    我最小的孩子穿过大厅的衣柜，用只有八分之一英语的咿呀学语声描述鞋子。

    All three participate in a steampunk-inspired world of their own creation called Gearton, for which they build castles and a clock tower out of picture books.

    这三个孩子都在玩由蒸汽朋克启发、自己创造世界的游戏Gearton，用图画书建造城堡和钟楼。

    When their games are going well, the kids are murmuring, saying to one another, "Pretend we..." or "What if we..." or "The queen must be assassinated³."在游戏进行得很顺利时，孩子们会喃喃低语，对彼此说，“假装我们……”或者“如果我们……”或者“女王一定被暗杀了”之类的话。

    There's also a lot of screaming. Meanwhile, I'm doing the crossword⁴.

    他们也会发出很多尖叫声。与此同时，我在玩填字游戏。

    I have three kids under 10 who don't expect — or even want — to play with me.

    我有三个不到10岁的孩子，他们并不期待——或者说甚至不想——和我一起玩。

    It took some practice, but over time, we've all learned we're better off doing our own thing:

    这需要一些练习，但随着时间的推移，我们都认识到我们最好做自己的事情：

    the kids, without stodgy⁵ parental⁶ interference, and my husband and I, unhooked from the assumption that we have to play to be present.

    孩子没有乏味的父母干预，而我和我丈夫则摆脱了我们必须假装自已参与其中这种责任。

    It wasn't always this way.

    但并非总是这样。

    As a toddler, if my first child wasn't digging in the trash or chewing on the couch cushions, he was rampaging through the house with an imaginary weapon.

    我的第一个孩子在蹒跚学步时，如果不是在垃圾堆里挖东西，也没有在沙发垫上嚼东西的话，那他就是在用想象中的武器在屋子里横冲直撞。

    He never listened. He tried to run into traffic.

    他从来不听话。他甚至想冲进车流。

    The constant wrangling⁷ and vigilance were so exhausting that my husband and I didn't have the energy to play the way my son preferred —不断的争吵和警惕让我精疲力尽，我和丈夫都没有精力按我儿子喜欢的方式玩耍，anything that involved full-body contact or pretend violence.

    因为他喜欢所有涉及全身接触或假装暴力的游戏。

    Instead, I said no and stop all day long, and when my scolding seeped⁸ into the playing, I felt guilty and frustrated⁹.

    相反，我拒绝了他，一整天都没有陪他玩，当我的责骂渗透到玩乐时间，我感到内疚和沮丧。

    I was a terrible playmate, a tired mother who did little beyond obstructing¹⁰.

    我是一个糟糕的玩伴，一个疲惫不堪的母亲，除了阻拦之外，什么也没做。

    But when my son was about 3, I realized his fictive worlds were vivid enough to continue without me.

    但在我儿子3岁左右的时候，我意识到他的虚拟世界足够生动，没有我也可以持续下去。

    All he needed, at first, was a listener. After a while, he would head into his bedroom, alone, to transform it into the place that lived in his mind.

    起初，他只需要一个倾听者。过了一阵，他会独自一人走进卧室，将卧室改造成他心目中的地方。

    It was freedom — for all of us.

    对我们所有人来说，这是自由。

    Thus began an experiment with expectation: Little by little, my husband and I would stretch the time our son could safely play by himself.

    于是，一个充满期待的实验开始了：我和丈夫会逐渐延长儿子独自安全玩耍的时间。

    My daughter was born a year after that. She is shy and moody¹¹, and she has been content to play on her own since she could crawl.

    我女儿在一年后出生。她腼腆而且情绪多变，从会爬起，她就愿意自己玩。

    I've never met a more self-possessed child — she used to tell me when she needed a nap.

    我从来没有遇到过比她更沉着的孩子，她经常告诉我她什么时候需要小睡。

    She has never liked the sorts of games her brother prefers, and play between them has always been a negotiation¹².

    她从未喜欢过她哥哥喜欢的那种游戏，他们两人之间的游戏一直是种谈判。

    The games they've created combine his love of fantasy and drama with her need for realism;他们创造的游戏结合了我儿子对幻想和戏剧的热爱以及我女儿对现实主义的需求；when they set up their pretend yak¹³ farm with pillows and stuffed animals, she enjoys an imagined sunset,当他们用枕头和毛绒玩具搭建起他们的假牦牛农场时，她享受着想象中的日落，while her brother worries about predators¹⁴ who have yet to grace this earthly plane.

    而她的哥哥则在担心尚未出现但会增添色彩的掠食者。

 

1 vending   

v.出售（尤指土地等财产）( vend的现在分词 )；（尤指在公共场所）贩卖；发表（意见，言论）；声明

参考例句：

• Why Are You Banging on the Vending Machine? 你为什么敲打这台自动售货机？ 来自朗文快捷英语教程 2
• Coca-Cola had to adapt almost 300,000 vending machines to accept the new coins. 可口可乐公司必须使将近三十万台自动贩卖机接受新货币。 来自超越目标英语 第5册

2 babble   

v.含糊不清地说，胡言乱语地说，儿语

参考例句：

• No one could understand the little baby's babble. 没人能听懂这个小婴孩的话。
• The babble of voices in the next compartment annoyed all of us.隔壁的车厢隔间里不间歇的嘈杂谈话声让我们都很气恼。

3 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

4 crossword   

n.纵横字谜，纵横填字游戏

参考例句：

• He shows a great interest in crossword puzzles.他对填字游戏表现出很大兴趣。
• Don't chuck yesterday's paper out.I still haven't done the crossword.别扔了昨天的报纸，我还没做字谜游戏呢。

5 stodgy   

adj.易饱的；笨重的；滞涩的；古板的

参考例句：

• It wasn't easy to lose puppy fat when Mum fed her on stodgy home cooking.母亲给她吃易饱的家常菜，她想减掉婴儿肥可是很难。
• The gateman was a stodgy fellow of 60.看门人是个六十岁的矮胖子。

6 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

7 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

8 seeped   

v.（液体）渗( seep的过去式和过去分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• The rain seeped through the roof. 雨水透过房顶渗透。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Icy air seeped in through the paper and the room became cold. 寒气透过了糊窗纸。屋里骤然冷起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

9 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

11 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

12 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

13 yak   

n.牦牛

参考例句：

• The most common materials Tibetan jewelry are Yak bone.藏饰最常见的材料当属牦牛骨。
• We can sell yak skin,meat and wool.我们可以卖牦牛的皮、肉和毛。

14 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》