英语美文：为人父母

 If it was going to easy, it never would have started with something called labor¹!

Shouting to make your children obey is like using the horn to steer² your car, and you get about the same results.

To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today.

The smartest advice on raising children is to enjoy them while they are still on your side.

The best way to keep kids at home is to give it a loving atmosphere and hide the keys to the car.

The right temperature in a home is maintained by warm hearts, not by hot heads.

Parents: People who bare infants, bore teenagers, and board newlyweds.

The joy of motherhood : What a woman experiences when all the children are finally in bed.

Life’s garden age is when the kids are too old to need baby-sitters and too young to borrow the family car.

Grandparents are similar to a piece of string-handy to have around and easily wrapped around the fingers of grandchildren.

A child outgrows³ your lap, but never outgrows your heart.

God gave you two ears and one mouth…so you should listen twice as much as you talk.

There are three ways to get something done: Do it yourself, hire someone to do it, or forbid your children to do it.

Adolescence⁴ is the age when children try to bring up their parents.

Cleaning your house while your kids are at home is like trying to shovel⁵ the driveway during a snowstorm.

Oh, to be only half as wonderful as my child thought I was when he was small, and half an stupid as my teenager now thinks I am.

There are only two things a child will share willingly: communicable diseases and his mother’s age.

Money isn’t everything , but it sure keeps the kids in touch.

Adolescence is the age at which children stop asking questions because they know all the answers.

An alarm clock is a device for awakening⁶ people who don’t have small children.

No wonder kids are confused today. Half the adults tell them to find themselves; the other half tell them to get lost.

People hardest to convince that it’s time for retirement⁷ are children at bedtime.

Kids really brighten a household; they never turn off any lights.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

3 outgrows   

长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的第三人称单数 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过

参考例句：

• This variety of tomato outgrows all others. 这种品种的西红柿生长得比所有其他品种快。
• That boy outgrows his clothes every few months. 那男孩生长发育很快，每隔几个月他的衣服就穿不下了。

4 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。

5 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

6 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

7 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。