Earlier this year, a professional couple who I know in Washington – I shall call them Paul and Nancy – discovered they were about to become grandparents for the first time. They were overjoyed and rushed to prepare. But they did not merely buy a teddy for their spare room. Instead, they solemnly enrolled themselves into a so-called “grandparenting class”, run at a Jewish centre in Maryland. For several hours they sat in a classroom with a motley selection of new grandparents, mostly high-powered professionals in their sixties and seventies, and heard an ultra-enthusiastic teacher outline all the tricks of the new (old) grandparent game.
今年早些時候，我認識的一對華盛頓專業人士夫婦——我稱他們保羅(Paul)和南希(Nancy)——發現他們即將第一次成爲祖父母。他們欣喜若狂，急忙去準備。但他們並不只是爲自己空餘的房間買一個玩具熊。相反，他們鄭重地報名參加了一個所謂的「祖父母培訓班」，這個班開設在馬里蘭州的一個猶太人中心。他們與一羣背景各異（大都是年齡在六七十歲的成功專業人士）的新晉祖父母在教室裏一坐數小時，聆聽一位超級熱情的老師講述新（老）祖父母應該掌握的所有技巧。