【英语时差8,16】家长忽略小孩

 Dear Annie:

My 24-year-old son and his wife are the parents of two toddler boys and are expecting another baby soon. They live four hours away. I recently learned that my son goes off to work early in the morning and his wife sleeps until noon, while the boys are locked in their bedroom "watching cartoons."

I don't know what they tell themselves to be convinced this is OK. I think it is serious child neglect and poses a danger to the boys. I am really worried, but I'm afraid if I say anything, I could alienate¹ both my son and daughter-in-law. But Annie, I can't just do nothing. Any suggestions? － Scared Grandmother

Dear Grandmother:

Why is Mom sleeping until noon? Is she ill? Is she depressed²? Of course it's dangerous to leave young children locked in a room for hours, but you might get better results if you address this as a matter of health, instead of an issue of child neglect. Lovingly tell your son that you are concerned about the level of exhaustion³ his pregnant wife is experiencing. She should speak to her doctor about this immediately, and in the meantime they should look into hiring a sitter or having your son drop the kids at a day care center until Mom can pick them up.

1 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。

2 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

3 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。