华盛顿邮报 黑色星期五怎么买更划算？（6）

 

    Michelle, let's talk about alternative ways to give because buying all this stuff¹ can really add up.

    米歇尔，我们来谈谈其他的赠送方式吧，因为买这么多东西加起来真的会花很多。

    So can we go through people by age? Like, how -- what kind of gifts would you suggest as alternative gifts for kids?

    我们能按年龄划分吗? 比如，你建议给孩子们送什么样的礼物作为替代方案?

    I love that. I love that. When you do your list, you want to put it in like, you know, sections.

    我喜欢划分，我喜欢这样。当列清单的时候，我想分成几部分。

    And so I say, like, children. So my thing is, if they're three or under, you don't really have to buy them anything because all they want to do is open up the box and see something.

    对于孩子，我的想法是，如果孩子只有三岁或三岁以下，你真的不需要给他们买任何东西，因为他们想做的就是打开盒子看东西。

    And so this is what I used to do with my own children.

    这就是我过去用在我孩子身上的方法。

    I would go through the house, go through their closets and go through their toy box because if you're a parent, kids have a toy box, the top layer of the toys that they play with.

    我会翻遍房子，翻遍孩子的衣柜，翻遍孩子的玩具盒，如果你是父母，孩子们会有一个玩具盒，最顶层是他们玩的玩具。

    But underneath², there are toys that they haven't seen in months and months and months.

    顶层下面是孩子几个月没见过的玩具。

    I would take the top layer off, dig down, find toys, wrap them up, and put them under the tree.

    我会把顶层的玩具拿出来，往下挖，找到底层的玩具，把它们包起来，放在树下。

    Oh, my gosh, that's genius.

    天啊，真是天才。

    Or during the year, if they went to a birthday party or they had a birthday party and people gave them gifts and it was too much, right,在这一年里，如果他们去参加了生日聚会，或者他们自己举行了生日聚会，人们会送礼物，礼物太多了，对吧，but you -- as they're opening and you could tell which ones they really liked, and so I would take some of those -- I know, don't judge, don't judge --I would put them in the closet, and around Christmastime, take them out, rewrap them, put them under the tree.

    但是当他们打开礼物时，你可以分辨出他们真正喜欢的是哪些，所以我会拿出一些——不要评判，不要评判——我会把它们放进衣柜里，在圣诞节的时候，再把它们拿出来，重新包装，放在树下。

    They don't know the difference.

    他们无法分辨这其中的区别。

    I mean, I'm not judging. I'm taking notes. This is genius.

    我不是在评判，我是在做笔记。这真是天才。

    It's so clever. Right? And they don't remember. They're three.

    这个方法太聪明了，对吧? 他们不记得，他们才三岁。

    Yeah, and if it's Christmas, they think it's Santa, not even you. They don't even realize it's you.

    对，如果是圣诞节，他们会认为是圣诞老人，甚至不是你。他们甚至没有意识到那是你。

    Now, you can only do that up to the point where they start to notice.

    到他们开始注意到了，你就不能这么做了。

    Yeah. So let's talk -- let's talk about when kids do start to notice, especially giving gifts to the teens and young adults in your life.

    对。让我们谈谈，当孩子开始注意到了，也就是他们成长为青少年和年轻人时，如何给他们送礼物呢？

    So what you can do once they realize there is no Santa, then you can just be practical about it.

    一旦他们意识到没有圣诞老人，你能做的就是实际一点。

    And so what we do with our kids is once they realize, "Man, that was a okeydoke," so we said, "Okay, give us a list," and you can put anything on your list.

    我们用在孩子身上的是，一旦他们意识到，“嘿，礼物还行，”我们会说，“好，给我们一个清单，”你可以把任何东西都列在清单上。

    And so they bring a two-page list.

    于是孩子会带来一份两页的清单。

    And my husband would look at the list and we just start laughing. You know, we just like, "You guys are crazy."我丈夫看看清单，我们就开始大笑，说“你疯了。”

    And so we go through the list and we go, "Nope, nope. Are you out of your mind? Nope. You're not getting a drone. Nope."我们看了一遍清单说：“不行，你疯了吗? 不行，你不会得到无人机，不行。”

    And so then we'd go back through it and say, "Okay, these are some things that we might consider."我们会再看一遍清单说：“好，这些是我们可以考虑的礼物。”

    So they had to redo their list and then they bring the list and then we buy some things from the list that fits within our budget because a couple of things you'll be teaching³ them that it's okay to want for stuff.

    孩子不得不重做清单，我们会从清单中购买一些符合我们预算的东西，因为你会教育孩子想要一些东西是可以的。

    So that's why we don't limit the list at the beginning.

    这就是为什么我们一开始就不给礼物清单设限。

    And then it's important to know that you have to live within your means, and so as we're going through the list, we're going, "Are you insane⁴? I'm not buying you --"重要的是，要知道必须量入为出，合理分配资金，所以当我们浏览这个清单时，我们会问，“疯了吗? 我才不买你的账——”

    Like, one year my kid wanted a North Face jacket. Very expensive jacket. So I said to her, "Well, can I face you north and get you a jacket from Target?"比如，有一年，我孩子想要一件北面(North Face)的夹克，很贵的夹克。于是我对她说：“我能面朝你的北边，从塔吉特百货给你买件夹克吗？”

1 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

2 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

3 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

4 insane   

adj.蠢极的，荒唐的，精神错乱的，疯狂的

参考例句：

• Insane people are sometimes dangerous.精神病人有时非常危险。
• The letter made her insane with jealousy.那封信使她妒忌得发疯。