If I had a kid...
如果我有孩子

Dialogue 1

Jingjing: Hey Mark, Children's Day is coming again this Friday.
京晶：嗨，馬克，兒童節又快到了，這周五呢。
Mark: Oh yeah, it'll be June 1st at the end of this week. Wow, May just flew by.
馬克：是的呢，六月一號，這周末。哇哦，五月飛逝如電。
Jingjing: It sure did. About children, are you thinking of having your own kids, now that you're married?
京晶：可不是嗎。說到孩子，既然你已經結婚了，想過要自己的孩子嗎？
Mark: Well, sure. That's always been the plan. My wife and I are getting prepared for that, actually. We hope to have a kid in another year or two.
馬克：當然了。一直有這計劃。我太太和我已經開始在準備了。事實上，我們希望，再過一兩年就生。
Jingjing: Is there anything you'd do differently, compared to your parents?
京晶：和你的父母相比，你作為家長會做得有些什么不同嗎？
Mark: My wife and I have talked about that a lot. Both of us were raised in a loving home. We were provided for but not spoiled.
馬克：我和我太太聊過很多。我們都是在一個充滿愛與關懷的環境中長大的，成長中得到了該得到的，但又沒被寵壞。
Jingjing: You're one of the lucky ones.
京晶：你們真是幸運。
Mark: You are too, I'm pretty sure.
馬克：你也一樣吧，我很肯定。
Jingjing: You better believe it. My parents treated me like a princess. Also, they gave me a lot of independence, more than most of my friends got.
京晶：你最好相信，我爸媽把我當公主養。同時他們給予了我很多的獨立和自由，比我朋友們得到的多得多。
Mark: Mine too. It's good to let a kid make some mistakes and learn from the consequences.
馬克：我也是。讓孩子去犯點錯誤，從后果中學習（長教訓）是很好的。
Jingjing: True, that. Sometimes kids react really badly when their parents don't let them do something.
京晶：正解。有時候當父母阻止孩子做一件事的時候，他們會做出不好的回應。
Mark: Plus they learn nothing from it, except that their parents are bossy.
馬克：而且他們什么也學不到，除了發現父母是如此的專橫。
Jingjing: Ha ha. Well, I'm sure parenting is much more difficult than it looks.
京晶：哈哈。我相信做父母這事一定比表面看著難許多。
Mark: Too right! Most of the parenting principles we read about are much easier said than done.
馬克：太對了！大多數我們讀過的那些養育道理都是說得容易做著難啊！
Jingjing: Yep. It takes a lifetime to build good parenting habits.
京晶：是啊。建立一個好的養育習慣需要花費一生的時間。

New words: 習語短語

a loving home 一種溫暖的家庭氛圍，父母讓孩子感覺到被重視和關愛
a home in which parents make the child feel valuable and warm
one of the lucky ones 幸運兒 （沒有大多數人有的問題）
someone who doesn't have the problems facing most people
independence 獨立，自由，自主性選擇
free time and chances to choose for oneself
consequences 后果
the results of something you've done
parenting principles 養育原則，育兒經
rules parents make for themselves about how to raise a healthy and happy child

Dialogue 2

Mark: Hi again, Jingjing.
馬克：嗨，京晶
Jingjing: We were talking about childhood and parenting last time. Were you a naughty kid?
京晶：上次我們聊了童年和做父母的事，你小時候淘氣嗎？
Mark: I was. But my parents gave me plenty of vitamin N.
馬克：淘呢。但我父母給了我足夠多的維他命N
Jingjing: Come again? What's that?
京晶：再說一遍？那是什么？
Mark: It's saying "no" to your kid, so they don't get spoiled.
馬克：就是對孩子說“不”，這樣他們就不會被寵壞。
Jingjing: That's a good idea. I guess you grew up eventually.
京晶：是個好主意。我猜你終究也是長大了。
Mark: Of course. But come to think of it, I might not say "no" to my own kids quite so often.
馬克：當然。但仔細想想，我也許不會對自己的孩子經常說不。
Jingjing: Give me an example of a time.
京晶：給我舉個例吧，比如
Mark: Well, OK. We travelled a lot. But my parents hardly ever took me out to restaurants on those trips.
馬克：好吧。我家經常出門旅游，但父母從來不在旅途中帶我去餐館吃飯。
Jingjing: Isn't that because the food was overpriced at some of those tourist traps?
京晶：難道不是因為有些敲竹杠的旅游景點的餐飲都貴得離譜嗎？
Mark: Yeah, I know that now. But back then, I thought it sucked. And, when I got a little older and had my own money, I spent too much of it on restaurants.
馬克：是，我知道。但是回到那時候，我真覺得這事太不給力了。后來等我稍微長大了一些，自己掙錢了，我又在出去吃飯這事上亂花了太多。
Jingjing: You might have felt a little deprived. But you understand now.
京晶：你可能感覺有點被剝奪了什么權利，但是現在你理解了。
Mark: Clearly. But what I'd do differently is to give my kid a choice: do you want to eat in one of these restaurants, or get supermarket food and then have something better when we're back home?
馬克：當然了。但是我會用不同的方法對待我的孩子，給他選擇：你愿意在外面的餐館吃，或者超市里買點，等我們回家后做更好吃的？
Jingjing: That's putting it well, hopefully in a way a kid could understand.
京晶：這方法很好啊很巧妙啊！希望孩子能理解能懂。
Mark: Actually, my parents and I read one of the same books on parenting: How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk.
馬克：事實上我和我父母都讀過同一本關于養育孩子的書：《如何說孩子才會聽你，如何聽孩子才愿意說》。
Jingjing: That's a promising title.
京晶：這標題很吸引人。
Mark: I read it just a few months ago. I have the PDF I can send you.
馬克：我幾個月前才讀了，我有PDF版可以發給你看。
Jingjing: Please. I'd like to have a look at it.
京晶：一定啊，我也很想看看。

New words: 習語短語

vitamin N 對孩子說不
saying "no" to children, in ways that will help them learn
spoiled 寵溺，寵壞
given too much, so that a person does not learn how to work or feel grateful
deprived 被剝奪了該有的東西
not given what is necessary
putting it well 用很好的方式解釋
expressing something in a good way
PDF 可攜式文檔格式
portable document format, a file type for books and other pieces of writing