二、

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied.

在这个充斥着网聊，电子游戏与真人秀的时代，并不缺乏让小孩子沉迷的玩物。

Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories.

尽管有着这些诱惑，我8岁的女儿Rebecca，却希望花时间写写小故事。

She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.

她打算将其中一个作品拿去比赛-------一个去年她获胜的比赛。

As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them.

作为一名作家，我十分了解写作比赛中赢和输意味着什么。

I know what it is like to work hard on a story to receive a rejection slip from the publisher.

我知道，当辛辛苦苦写完一个故事却遭到出版社的拒绝是一种什么样的心情；

I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories.

我也知道，要维护从前的成功所带来的声望需要承受多么大的压力。

What if she doesn’t win the contest again?

加入女儿这次赢不了比赛会怎么样呢？

That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.

作为父母，这是无比奇怪的事情。我们以往的很多伤痕和破碎的梦想会慢慢浮现出来。

A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”

知道上星期，我得到了启示。我问她：“你想再赢一次吗？”“不”女儿回答，“我只想告诉大家一个天使上一年级的故事”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them.

我其实已经花了好几个星期在女儿不自觉地讲述时修正她的故事。

Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall.

我告诉自己，这无非是一个有经验的作家在引导一个新作家而已。

I offered suggestions first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson.

我给了她不少建议，关于角色，冲突以及故事的结局，在我的“指引”下，这个原本讲小天使担惊受怕地开始念一年级的故事，很快变成了一个充满丰富想象力的女孩开始第一节音乐课的历程。

I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.

在我不经意时，我已经把她的比当成了自己的比赛。

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks.

放手给孩子空间成长不想看起来那么简单。

Because I know little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade. 因为我对能用工具的农场动物，或者一年级的小天使一无所知。

I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.

我不得不承认我借用了女儿的经历。

While steeping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked.

尽管对于我来说放手不容易，但可喜的是，这回是一个好的开端，我很快可以学会更多，给自己一段合适的距离，既可以让女儿有发展的空间，同时在她需要时施以援手。

All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment , grow and find their own voices.

在这个过程中，我会一直提醒自己，孩子需要空间去尝试，去找到属于自己的路。