不要低估孩子

This story happened sixteen years ago. My son is now 22 years old， but when I look at him even as a grown man， I remember the small child with the tears.

We had a female cat who was ready to give birth to her kittens. And like all young children， my son was curious and excited to see the birth of these new babies. I felt he was old enough to view this miraculous event. So I answered all his questions and prepared him the best I could so he wouldn't be shocked or scared.

The night the blessed event took place; one kitten had been born by the time my son arrived home from school. He was so thrilled and amazed at what he saw. He would lay his hand on the mother cat' s belly and feel the other kittens moving and awaiting their turn to be born. When the mother cat began to yell very loudly， it was clear the second was on its way.

My son watched but never said a word. When the second kitten was born and the mother was busy taking care of it， preparing for the next， my son asked me，\" Mommy， how come she cries so loud when the baby comes?\" In my delight of having my son wanting to view this miraculous event and thinking I had prepared him for it， I had not thought to explain about the pain of giving birth. Not wanting to take anything away from the miracle he was witnessing， I tried to explain to him that it was not a hurtful pain but a pain of great pleasure for the mother cat， knowing her babies would soon be born.

When the birth of the third kitten became obvious by the crying of the mother， I glanced at my son to offer words of comfort if he showed signs of it becoming too stressful for him. When I looked at his face， he had tears rolling down his cheeks. So I asked him why he was crying and he looked up at me and said， \"Mommy， I' m sorry I gave you all that pain to have me.\"

I thought my heart had stopped. It was all I could do to contain myself from grabbing him and just holding him close to me， but I knew I couldn't have him thinking that his birth was something that caused me pain in the way he was thinking. With a careful choice of words and reassurance， I told him his birth has done nothing but bring smiles to my life and that I would go through it 100 times that the pain meant so little compared to the joy of having him.

He gave me this big hug and then he said，\" Mommy， I know why the kittens come out that end?\" I asked him why and he said， \"Because the other end has got teeth.\" I was laughing so much inside， I thought I would burst. The things a child will notice that an adult takes for granted will always surprise me.

My son is a grown man now but he and I always remember that day so well and he still says today the memory for him was finally understanding what the word \"love\" meant. The memory for me was feeling the love of my child as he wrapped his arms around me and gave me the biggest hug he had ever given me. Never under estimate what your child is capable of understanding， or more important， the logic they use to understand what they are seeing or hearing.

故事發生在16年前。我的兒子現在22歲了，盡管他在我眼中已經是一個成人，但我依然記得他兒時淚眼婆娑的樣子。

那時我們養了一只快要產仔的母貓。像所有的小孩一樣，我的兒子滿懷好奇和激動，期待那些新生命的誕生。我認為兒子已經長大，可以觀看這個神奇的過程了。所以，我對他有問必答，并且盡力讓他做好準備，希望他不會感到震驚和害怕。

那天晚上，神圣的分娩開始了。兒子放學到家時，已經有一只小貓出生了，兒子看到后驚奇得有些發抖。他把手放到母貓的腹部，感覺那些小貓的蠕動，等待它們降生時刻的到來。當母貓開始大聲叫喚時，顯然第二只小貓就快要出生了。

兒子一言不發地看著。第二只小貓出生后，母貓忙著照料它，同時還要為下一個寶寶的降生做準備，這時兒子問我：“媽媽，生寶寶時她為什么那樣大聲地叫呀?”我很高興讓兒子看到這神奇的一刻，覺得已經為他做好了充足的準備，但是，我沒有想過分娩時的痛苦要怎樣解釋。我不想剝奪兒子看到奇跡的任何細節，我試著向他解釋：“對母貓來說，這不是什么有壞處的痛，而是一種極為快樂的痛，因為她的寶寶就要出生了。”

這時，第三只小貓也要出生了，母貓又開始叫喚起來。我看了一眼兒子，準備在他表現出太緊張的神情時給他一些安慰。可當我看到他時，淚水正順著他的雙頰往下淌，我問他為什么哭。他抬頭看著我說：“媽媽，對不起，我出生時給您帶來那么多的痛苦。”

我覺得我的心臟停止了跳動。我只能盡量克制自己不要抓住他，但他，還是被我緊緊地摟在懷里。我知道我必須消除他認為自己的出生給我帶來痛苦的想法。我小心翼翼地措辭，讓他放心。我對他說，他的出生給我帶來的只有歡笑，我愿意經歷100次。和擁有他的歡樂相比，那點痛苦實在是微不足道。

兒子非常熱烈地擁抱了我一下說：“媽咪，我知道小貓為什么從那一頭出來了。”我問為什么，他說：“因為另一頭有牙齒啊。”我差點失聲笑出來。大人認為是理所當然的事對小孩來說都有新意，這總令我感到吃驚。

現在我的兒子已經長大成人，但是他和我都一直清楚地記得那一天。今天他還在說，這個回憶使他終于明白了“愛”的含義。對我來說，我只記得兒子給我的愛——他有生以來給我的那次最熱烈的擁抱。永遠也不要低估你的孩子對事物的理解能力。更重要的是，永遠也不要低估他對所見、所聞運用的邏輯思維能力。

scared adj．恐懼的

delightn．高興，愉快

v．高興，取樂；喜愛；使高興，樂于

rollingadj．旋轉的；起伏的，波動的

reassurancen．安心，再保證，放心

capableadj．有能力的，能干的