Another summer has ended. The kids have had adventures, learnt new things, met new people, even found new and improved ways to enrage their parents. They’ve also grown older. My daughter is starting kindergarten and my son has just started leaping from his crib, so it’s time to update their room. We’ve decided on a bunk bed, but when I equip my husband with a measuring tape and follow him into their room, his shoulders begin to shake as he is overcome by the crippling tears of a man who has never been able to accept the audacity of the passing of time and its effect on our children. This is a job for me. I gently lead my weeping husband out and tell him that I’ll handle the inevitability of our children maturing.
又一個夏天結束了。孩子們經歷了冒險,學到了新東西,認識了新朋友,還發明瞭新的、升級版惹怒父母大法。他們也長大了。我女兒要上幼稚園了,兒子也開始從嬰兒牀裏往外翻了,所以是時候重新佈置他們的房間了。我們決定擺一張雙層牀,但當我給丈夫準備好捲尺,跟著他走進孩子們的房間時,他的肩膀開始顫抖,無法抑制地流下了他的男兒淚,一個男子漢永遠接受不了時間肆意流逝以及它對我們孩子的影響。這活兒還是交給我吧。我溫柔地把我哭泣的丈夫領出來,告訴他我會處理這種不可避免的子女長大成人的問題。