埃米·S.崔　蘇揚(yáng)/譯

The crisis of American parenting is that nobody knows what the hell theyre doing. Many American parents seek the advice of expert after expert in the field in order to succeed at one goal： to raise the happiest， the most successful， and the most well-adjusted leaders of the future.

美國(guó)式育兒的危機(jī)在于，沒(méi)人知道父母?jìng)兙烤乖谧鍪裁矗罕姸嗝绹?guó)父母滿世界尋求專家建議，意在實(shí)現(xiàn)一個(gè)目標(biāo)——培養(yǎng)出一等幸福、頂級(jí)成功、最具適應(yīng)力的未來(lái)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。

But what dangers lay in thinking that there is one “right” way to parent？ How much of how we parent is actually dictated by our culture？ How do the ways we parent express the essentialness of who we are， as a nation？

但執(zhí)著于一種“正確”的育兒套路，會(huì)面臨哪些危險(xiǎn)？文化究竟在多大程度上左右著我們的育兒方式？育兒方式又如何反映我們的民族特質(zhì)？

In reporting her book All Joy and No Fun： The Paradox of Modern Parenthood1， says Jennifer Senior， when she asked mothers who they went to for parenting advice， they named friends， websites and books. None named their own mothers. Only the most current child-rearing strategies were desired， in order to best position their children for achievement in the future.

詹妮弗·西尼爾在推介自己的新書(shū)《所有的幸與不幸：現(xiàn)代親子悖論》時(shí)說(shuō)，她曾問(wèn)過(guò)媽媽們，碰到育兒?jiǎn)栴}，她們向誰(shuí)求教？答案是朋友、網(wǎng)站和書(shū)本，卻沒(méi)人提自己的母親。為了讓子女占據(jù)有利位置以在未來(lái)取得成功，她們只追最新的育兒秘笈。

In other words， that which is most American about us—our belief that the future is unwritten—is what is driving us mad as parents.

換句話說(shuō)，美國(guó)人相信未來(lái)并非命定，這一觀念是美國(guó)人最突出的特性，也是讓美國(guó)父母在育兒上如此抓狂的原因。

“You dont see the handwringing in other places around the world，” says Christine Gross-Loh， author of Parenting Without Borders. “People understand that there is a way to do things.”

“在世界其他地方，見(jiàn)不到這種極端的育兒焦慮。”《育兒無(wú)國(guó)界》的作者克里斯蒂娜·格羅斯-洛感嘆道，“人們都明白，船到橋頭自然直。”

In Norway， childhood is strongly institutionalized， says Norwegian sociologist and economist Margunn Bjornholt. Indeed， most children enter state-sponsored daycare at 1 year old （parents first get almost a full year of state-sponsored leave from work）， then enter school and organized activities.

挪威社會(huì)學(xué)家、經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家馬爾貢·比約恩霍爾特說(shuō)，挪威人的童年高度圈養(yǎng)化。確實(shí)如此，多數(shù)孩子一歲進(jìn)公立日托（父母先享有近一整年的國(guó)家付薪產(chǎn)假），然后升入小學(xué)并參加各類團(tuán)體活動(dòng)。

Norwegians believe that it is better for children to be in daycare as toddlers. At daycare， methods reflect the countrys fetishistic dedication to fresh air. So even in Oslo， where arguably the indoor air quality is fresher， and even in Scandinavian2 winters， children are bundled up and taken outside to nap in their strollers.

挪威人認(rèn)為，幼兒剛會(huì)走路時(shí)就送進(jìn)日托比較好。日托的一些育兒方法反映出，挪威人對(duì)新鮮空氣極度癡迷。所以，即使在奧斯陸這個(gè)按理室內(nèi)空氣質(zhì)量?jī)?yōu)于室外的城市，甚至在斯堪的納維亞寒冷的冬季，也能看到孩子們被裹得嚴(yán)嚴(yán)實(shí)實(shí)帶到戶外，在嬰兒車(chē)?yán)镄∷?/p>

Craziness？ Culture. In Japan， where Gross-Loh lives part of the year， she lets her 4-year-old daughter run errands with her 7-year-old sister and 11-year-old brother—without parental supervision. Her kids dont hesitate to take the Tokyo subways by themselves and walk on busy streets alone， just like their Japanese peers. But when she comes back to the States， Gross-Loh doesnt allow the same.

瘋狂吧？這就是文化。格羅斯-洛每年都在日本居住一段時(shí)間，她會(huì)讓4歲的女兒跟著7歲的姐姐和11歲的哥哥一起去當(dāng)小跑腿，家長(zhǎng)也不看著。就跟日本的同齡孩子一樣，兄妹三人自己乘坐東京的地鐵，自己獨(dú)自走在熙熙攘攘的大街上，一點(diǎn)不犯怵。但是一回美國(guó)，她就不會(huì)讓孩子們這么做。

“If I let them out on their own like that in the U.S.， I wouldnt just get strange looks，” she says. “Somebody would call Child Protective Services.”

“要是我在美國(guó)讓孩子這樣獨(dú)自出門(mén)，不只會(huì)收到別人的異樣目光，還會(huì)有人給兒童保護(hù)服務(wù)局打電話。”她說(shuō)。

Both in Japan and Norway， parents are focused on cultivating independ-ence. Children do things alone early， whether its walking to school or to the movies. The frames， however， are different. In Scandinavia， there is an emphasis on a democratic relationship between parents and children. In Sweden especially， the “rights” of a child are important. For example， a child has the “right” to access their parents bodies for comfort， and therefore should be allowed into their parents bed with them in the middle of the night. If a parent doesnt allow them， they are both denying them their rights and being a neglectful parent. In parts of Asia， meanwhile， co-sleeping with a family member through late childhood is common. Korean parents spend more time holding their babies and having physical contact than most. But within a family， obedience is key—not democracy.

在日本和挪威，父母都注重培養(yǎng)孩子的獨(dú)立性——孩子從小獨(dú)立做事，不論是步行上學(xué)還是去看電影——但兩種體系又有區(qū)別。斯堪的納維亞地區(qū)強(qiáng)調(diào)民主的親子關(guān)系，特別是在瑞典，孩子的“權(quán)利”很重要。比如，孩子有“權(quán)利”依偎在父母身邊尋求安慰，所以半夜應(yīng)被允許上父母的床。父母不讓的話，就是剝奪孩子權(quán)利、不管孩子。在亞洲一些地區(qū)，挺大的孩子與家庭成員同睡很常見(jiàn)。在韓國(guó)，父母抱孩子和與孩子身體接觸的時(shí)間比大多數(shù)國(guó)家的父母要長(zhǎng)，但關(guān)起門(mén)來(lái)，服從——而非民主——才是關(guān)鍵。

In Jewish tradition， says Wendy Mogel， a clinical psychologist and author of The Blessing of a B Minus： Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Resilient Teenagers， theres a teaching in the Talmud3 that every parent has an obligation to teach their child how to swim.

臨床心理醫(yī)生溫迪·莫格爾是《中等偏下的好處：聽(tīng)猶太真言，養(yǎng)皮實(shí)孩子》一書(shū)的作者。她說(shuō)，猶太人遵從《塔木德》的一條教誨：做父母的，都有責(zé)任讓孩子學(xué)會(huì)泅水。

“Were supposed to be raising our children to leave us，” she says. “They must develop self-reliance and resourcefulness and resilience， which is a challenge， because we must allow our children to make mistakes.”

“猶太人養(yǎng)育子女是期望他們未來(lái)離家可以獨(dú)立生活，孩子必須自立、善應(yīng)變、有韌性，這不容易，因?yàn)槲覀儽仨氃试S孩子犯錯(cuò)?！彼f(shuō)。

This is enormously hard for American parents to do. “Parents are genuinely anxious about really big things like the melting ice caps and collapsing economy and the unending4 stories about violence and predators5 and college admissions，” says Mogel. “They displace all of these fears of things they cant control onto the one thing they believe they can control， which is children.”

對(duì)美國(guó)父母來(lái)說(shuō)，這極難做到?！捌鋵?shí)父母很擔(dān)心一些真正的大事，如冰蓋融化、經(jīng)濟(jì)崩潰、無(wú)休止的暴力事件和尾隨作案、高校招生等，可這些問(wèn)題他們無(wú)力控制，于是就將由此產(chǎn)生的憂慮轉(zhuǎn)移到他們唯一自感可控的事情上，那就是孩子。”莫格爾說(shuō)。

American parents are highly focused on making sure that their childrens talents are groomed6 for success. Sara Harkness， a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Connecticut and a pioneering researcher on parenting and culture， found that nearly 25 percent of all of the descriptors7 used by American parents were a derivation of “smart，” “gifted” or “advanced.” “Our sense of needing to push children to maximize potential is partly driven by fear of the child failing in an increasingly competitive world where you cant count on the things that our parents could count on，” Harkness suggests.

美國(guó)的父母心心念念想的是培養(yǎng)孩子各項(xiàng)才能，為成功鋪路。薩拉·哈克尼斯是康涅狄格大學(xué)人類發(fā)展與家庭研究系教授，是率先研究育兒與文化問(wèn)題的學(xué)者。她發(fā)現(xiàn)，美國(guó)父母描述孩子時(shí)使用的所有語(yǔ)詞中，有近1/4衍生自“聰明”“天賦”和“先進(jìn)”。哈克尼斯表示，“必須最大限度挖掘孩子潛力這樣的想法部分源于我們擔(dān)心孩子在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)日益激烈的世界中失敗，過(guò)去我們的父母能依靠的那些東西，我們現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)指望不上了” 。

This is not unlike many Asian nations， where parenting， from a very early age， is focused highly on academics and college acceptance. One Korean mother who Harkness interviewed played English tapes to her 2-month-old baby “because its never too early to start，” she says. The parents primary role is as an educator， and the childs role is to respect the parent and repay them with sacrifices.

這與亞洲許多國(guó)家并無(wú)二致。按照亞洲人的育兒觀，在孩子很小的時(shí)候就應(yīng)特別著力于學(xué)習(xí)和考大學(xué)。哈克尼斯采訪過(guò)的一位韓國(guó)媽媽給兩個(gè)月大的孩子播放英語(yǔ)磁帶，說(shuō)“起步越早越好”。韓國(guó)父母的首要角色是教育者，孩子則要尊重父母、不惜做出犧牲回報(bào)父母。

In the Netherlands， meanwhile， parents used “smart” to describe their children only 10 percent of the time. Dutch parents believe strongly in not pushing their children too hard.

而在荷蘭，父母用“聰明”這個(gè)詞談?wù)摵⒆拥膸茁手挥?/10。他們堅(jiān)信，不能把孩子逼得太厲害。

Instead， regularly scheduled rest， food and a pleasant environment are the top priorities for Dutch parents.

荷蘭父母優(yōu)先考慮的是讓孩子按時(shí)按點(diǎn)休息、吃飯，營(yíng)造快樂(lè)環(huán)境。

The American desire for solutions is starting to radiate outwards. A growing awareness of the scarcity of resources， and the potential for true social mobility， is increasing the pressure on parents globally to “parent” their kids， as a verb.

美國(guó)人的求解欲正在向外擴(kuò)散。人們?nèi)找嬲J(rèn)識(shí)到資源短缺以及社會(huì)流動(dòng)可能真正實(shí)現(xiàn)，這種意識(shí)加大了全球父母“雞娃”的壓力。

The U.S.， home to immigrants who bring their own traditions from around the world， is uniquely positioned to both learn and let go. American parents can recast8 their scriptlessness as they see fit， drawing on both global tradition and present theory. Will they？ Tomorrows children may decide.

美國(guó)是個(gè)移民國(guó)家，世界各地的移民帶來(lái)了自己的傳統(tǒng)，因此美國(guó)人有得天獨(dú)厚的條件吸收和摒棄。無(wú)論是各國(guó)傳統(tǒng)還是現(xiàn)有理論，只要覺(jué)得合適，美國(guó)父母都可以吸收利用，重新打造他們的無(wú)腳本教育。他們會(huì)這樣做嗎？未來(lái)的孩子們會(huì)做出抉擇。