Share Your Time with Your Children

Teens don't want to be seen with their parents, much less talk to them or do anything with them.

青少年不想和父母一起被人看见，更别说和他们说话或做任何事。

That's what we hear all the time.

这就是我们一直听到的。

I don 't believe it. Oh, sure, when my daughter and my son were in their teens, they wanted to spend most of their free time with their friends.

但是我不相信。当然，当我的女儿和儿子十几岁的时候，他们大部分的空闲时间都想和他们的朋友一起度过。

But there were always those special times planned when we enjoyed being alone with each other, when we connected deeply, and when we were reminded again how much we loved one another.

但是，当我们享受彼此独处的时光，当我们紧密相连的时候，当我们再次想起我们有多爱对方的时候，总有一些特殊的时刻是有计划的。

I recall how delighted my 14-year-old daughter, Alisa, felt when I asked her for a date to see a movie.

我还记得当我带着14岁的女儿艾丽莎去看电影时，她是多么幸福。

It was a bittersweet Italian movie, Cinema Paradiso,

这是一部苦中带乐的意大利电影，片名为《天堂电影院》，

and I wanted this story to give her a sense of how I grew up as an Italian boy in a small town, where life was simple and where everyone knew one another.

希望能让她知道我在一个意大利男孩的小镇上长大的故事，知道那里简单的生活，大家都认识。

I wanted her to know how her father had been brought up and shaped.

我想让她知道她父亲是怎么长大的。

We both laughed and cried during the same scenes in the movie.

由于电影中同样的场景，我们又哭又笑。

她非常痴迷于这部电影。我计划我们应该在附近的一家面包店谈一些有趣的事情来结束我们的夜晚。

I told her the movie was now so much more special for me because I had shared it with her.

我告诉她，因为我和她一起看了这部电影，现在对我来说更特别了。

She smiled. She understood. We made a memory that night.

她笑了，也明白了。那天晚上我们留下了难忘的回忆。

From our living room window, I saw my 13-year-old son, Jason, tearfully searching our vegetable garden for a place to bury his pet.

透过客厅的窗户，我看到我13岁的儿子杰森在我们的菜园里含泪寻找一个埋葬他宠物的地方。

Every pet he owned — lizards（蜥蜴）, fish, or hamsters（仓鼠） — had died.

他养的每一只宠物——蜥蜴、鱼或仓鼠——都死了。

I was at his side as we searched for the best gravesite. We dug the grave, said our goodbyes and then he cried.

当我们寻找最合适的地方时，我就在他身边。我们挖好坟墓，说再见，然后他哭了。

He cried hard and he asked me why every pet he had owned died so soon.

他哭得很厉害，问我为什么他养的每一只宠物都死得这么快。

I could feel his heart break against my chest. I just held him close.

我能感觉到他胸前的心都碎了。我只是紧紧地抱着他。

He let me hold his aching soul. He needed me while he was confused.

他让我抱着他痛苦的灵魂。他困惑的时候想要我。

Share your heart with your teens. Show them repeatedly that you know and love who they really are.

There are tender memories waiting to be made.

亲切的回忆等着你们一起创造。