Have dinner with your parents wholeheartedly

Thursday

Have dinner with your parents wholeheartedly

安心和爸妈吃一顿饭

When was the last time you stayed together with your parents? When was the last time you ate with your parents? When was the last time you enjoyed dinner with your parents at ease?

As time goes by, we and our parents are both growing up unceasingly. As a matter of fact, instead of growing up our parents are growing gradually older and older with hoar hair, decreased vision and hearing loss. When watching TV, they have to turn it up in order to meet their ears. When talking with others, their loud voices seem like an ongoing quarreling. Maybe one day, the one who shares the most intimate kinship with you will be gone. At that moment, it is all in vain even though you try to enjoy dinner with them.

你有多久没和父母在一起？你有多久没和父母一起吃饭？你有多久没和父母一起安心吃饭？

随着时光的流逝，我们在不断长大，父母同样也在“长大”。可是，他们不是长大，而是逐渐变老了，头发慢慢花白，视力渐渐下降，耳朵也不太好使！看个电视要声音调得很大，对话像是在吵架！也许某天，这个世界上和你有着最亲密的血缘关系的人就不在了！就算你想再陪他们吃饭，也是枉然！

Several days ago, I ate out. And the nearby guests were a mother with one son and one daughter. According to their talking, the boy is a undergraduate college student and the girl has started working. As the mother had been told that the dishes are delicious there, so she decided to take her children to that restaurant to enjoy the cuisines all together on Sunday. During the meal, the mother just worried about whether her children would enjoy them and tried to ask his son how he felt about the taste of the dishes. However, the son replied with very impatient tone—“I have eaten this with my college mates and I will order what I want. And I think it is unnecessary to eat together. It is the same taste no matter you eat together or separately.” On the contrary, the daughter replied: “What makes the difference is that we eat here as a family. Eating is not important and what matters is the ones who you eat with.” But, the boy responded with shrugging his shoulders dismissively. Subsequently, the mother made attempts to chat with her son and the boy just showed his dirty look. For a minute or two, I found the mother put down his chopsticks and tried to lift up his heads with potential watery eyes. 

前两天在外面吃饭，旁边的一桌是一位母亲带着一对子女，通过他们的谈话了解女儿已经工作、儿子还在读大学，母亲想趁着周日带着女儿儿子一起来这一家饭店吃饭，之前她一直听说这家料理不错。期间，母亲一直问着儿子味道怎么样，儿子非常不耐烦的说着：“我在学校也吃过，我吃什么自己会讲。再说没有什么必要要一起吃，一起吃分开吃不都是吃嘛！”然后他姐姐回答说：“不一样，我们现在是一家人啊！吃饭不重要，重要的是和谁一起吃！”男孩听完姐姐的回答后不屑的耸耸肩。随后，那位母亲尝试跟儿子聊天，儿子脸都是臭臭的。有一两分钟发现那位母亲放下筷子，努力的抬起头，或许眼睛里已经湿润。

But in reality, these scenes seem to be shown every day in different families which are considered as commonplaces. However, it just speaks out the parents’ bitterness and frustration that it is so difficult to have dinner with their children. Nowadays, most of the children work away from their parents and have little time to stay with their parents. Even, some could just return back to their parents during the Spring Festival. The children only come home once a year and they will go out for gathering with their friends at the moment they just arrive home. When finishing the gathering, they turn up in the late evening. After the Spring Festival, the children don’t even realize how little time they have spent with their parents together. Even, they are just in a hurry when they have dinner together.

在现实生活中，这种画面仿佛每天在不同的家庭中上演。看似稀松平常，却是道出无数父母的辛酸与无奈----想好好和子女吃一顿饭却是那么难！现在大多数子女都是在外地工作，回家的时间都是那么的有限，有的只能在春节的时候才可以回家。一年才回一次家的子女们，行李才放下可能会因为接了朋友或是同学聚会电话就出门，等他们回到家的时候已是深夜。或许春节过完，子女们也没发觉自己几乎没有多少时间与父母在一起，甚至一起吃饭都是非常匆忙！

When passing through the community park during the Spring Festival, I just heard the discussion from the older aunties one day and they said their children attended gathering parties with their friends instead of staying at home. Their children went out early and came back at dusk. Even, they ate in a bit of a hurry when they were at home. Yeah, the parents who waited for their children’s coming back and made great preparations before they returned back. They tried to do all sorts of delicious food for their children in spite of how hard they did. Some dishes could be finished in several hours or few days. However, the parents keep smiling when they get ready painstakingly.

春节的时候路过小区公园的时候，某天听见小区里的大妈们在说过年这孩子们回来我们也是见不着面，天天这聚会那朋友的，早出晚归的，连吃个饭都急匆匆的！对啊，期待子女归家的父母们，在子女归家前，就是各种采买、准备希望给子女做各种各样好吃的，有的菜肴准备起来不只需要几个小时或是几天，可是父母们脸上洋溢着笑容不辞辛苦来准备！

Once a while, I lived alone when I worked far away from my parents. During that period, I envied the colleagues who could have dinner with their parents after work. Under the orange light, the family sit together with a simple dining table and delicious dishes. They just eat and talk freely. What a wonderful picture it is. Inadvertently, they get rid of the exhaustion and tiredness. Eating together is of greater importance than the food. To some extent, it is a symbol of warm emotion and feelings. However, these scenes are gradually disappearing. During the Internet era of rapid development, mobile phones have become the standard for everyone. Some tend to play phone when eating with scanning the news or watching the videos. The harmonious and happy scenes have been broken up.

曾一个人在外地工作的时候的我，特别羡慕那些可以下班之后可以回家与父母一起吃饭的同事们！橘黄色的灯光下，一张铺着简单的饭桌，桌上可口的菜肴，一家人坐在一起，吃吃菜，谈谈天，说说地，这是多么美好的一幅图画！不经意间，一身的疲惫已然消失！一起吃晚饭，已经不仅仅是一餐饭那样简单，某种程度是上，它是一种温馨情感的象征。可是，这幅画面正在渐渐消失！快速发展的网络时代，手机已经成为吃饭标配，边吃饭边拿着手机耍，或是浏览咨询新闻或是观看视频！和谐幸福画面已被打破！

What you may don’t know is that your parents just make two dishes when they two stay at home and they cook many dishes when you arrive home. What you may never know is that your parents update the networking to find out your latest situation and they are afraid of missing any detail of yours. What you may don’t know is that your parents are waiting beside the telephone and are afraid to miss you on the line. What you may never know is that your parents are becoming slower and slower when you run faster and faster. As you are stronger and stronger, they are weaker and older!   

你不知道的是父母本来两个人最多两个菜，你回来了他们做了一大桌！你不知道不在家的时候，他们经常拿着端着手机刷新看你有没有刷新状态，生怕错过你任何事情！你不知道他们经常守候在电话旁边，就怕错过你来的电话！你不知道你跑的越来越快，而却没有注意他们越来越慢，你越来越强大的时候，他们却越来越衰老！

Do you ever want to repay your parents for their unselfish love? Do you have opportunities and time when you tend to? As remembered, one of my high school classmates who was in a fight with his parents on June of two years before. He tried to start an undertaking and his parents didn’t support him at that time. As he couldn’t lay down his face, he failed to call his father at his birthday. All of a sudden, his father had a car accident on his way home. Moreover, his father laid down and never came back to life. Actually, he chose a birthday gift for his beloved father and prepared to give his father in person when he would return back to home on National Day. At present, he had no chance to send his gift to his father any more.

你想过要回报父母--他们无私的爱吗？等到你想起的时候，你还有机会和时间吗？犹记得，前年一位高中同学六月份因为想自己创业与家里发生冲突冷战，父亲过生日的时候他也没有打电话回家，因为放不下脸面。可是，七夕的时候他的父亲在回家的路上发生车祸，躺下去就再也没有醒过来。其实，他已经为父亲选好生日礼物准备十一国庆回家的时候亲自拿给父亲！可是，现在他永远也没有机会将这份礼物送出！

An old saying—The tree prefers to keep tranquil while the wind keeps blowing. The children choose filial piety while their parents are no longer with them. Up to now, how long haven’t you met your parents? When is the last time you call them? How often do you not to chat with them? How long haven’t you eaten with them reassuringly? It is just a family meal without any phone, TV or haste. Instead of the fake appearance, the family meal is warm and cozy.

古人云：树欲静而风不止，子欲养而亲不待！算算到目前为止，你有多久没有见过你的父母！你多久没有跟他们打过电话？你多久没有和他们好好聊聊？你有多久没有安心的陪他们吃饭，就只是一家人一起安心吃饭，没有手机，没有电视，没有那么多的匆忙，不是貌合神离！

知识点

kinship n. 亲属关系，血缘关系；亲切感

例句：

Her kinship, she believed, was with Hawthorne.

她认为自己跟霍桑有血缘关系。

Dolphin Whale People had a deep kinship in dream time with the dolphin and whale consciousness.

海豚鲸鱼人在梦想时间与海豚鲸鱼意识有一种深深的密切关系。

inadvertently adv. 无意地，不经意地

例句：

Or you may inadvertently disclose information that you did not intend to reveal.

否则你可能会无意中透露本不想透漏信息。

But they may have inadvertently been given a lifeline by the American government.

但是，美国政府可能已经在不经意间给了他们一线生机。

After reading, please embrace your parents when they are around you. If not, please call and tell them you love them.

看完这篇，如果父母在旁边，请立刻拥抱他们。如果不在身边，请打电话告诉他们你的爱意！

本月共读《Zero to One》英文版

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☞ 作者：陈珺洁，感性与理性的融合，渴望汲取世间最美的精华，跨越世界去进行无止尽的修行！我在英语共读等你！