Diane Stark

景一选译

"It's the most wonderful time of the year，" my seven-year-old son. Nathan， sang with ahuge grin 1. I love Christmas. I do. It' s wonderful and warm and brings families together. It' sa chance to show the people we love how we really feel about them.

But it's also busy， bordering 2 0n chaotic 3. My to-do list is longer during the month ofDecember than at any other time of the year.

But I really do love Christmas.

One evening in early December. I flopped 4 down on the couch next to my husband， Erie.I'd spent all day decorating 5 the house for the season， and I was tired.

"The tree looks great， honey，" Eric said.

"Thanks. It's a shame it will only be up for three weeks before I have to spend anotherwhole day taking it all down again，" I shrugged 6. “It's pretty， but sometimes I wonder if it'sworth all the effort."

He smiled. "I told you last year that it's okay with me if we don't decorate. I know it'sa lot of work."

I looked around the house， loving the cozy feel the decorations provided. "I can't stopdecorating for Christmas，" I said. "Think of how upset the kids would be."

His smirk grew bigger. "Oh， yes， it's all for the kids."

I nudged 7 him with my elbow 8. "Okay， I admit it. I love it. too."

But the next day， I was not loving it quite as much. I had a long list of other Christmas-related tasks. and nothing was going right. The previous 9 week. I'd sent my kids' wish lists tomy mom， my mother-in-law， and my former mother-in-law. who was still very much a part ofour family. I'd been careful to monitor Nathan's lists to make sure that he didn't ask morethan one grandma for the same toy. I'd told him to make three separate lists， one for eachgrandma. He 'd done a great job creating the lists with about the same number of toys on eachlist but no duplicate 10 items. He brought them to me， clearly excited about his carefullycrafted ll lists.

I set them by the computer. "I'll send them to your grandmas tomorrow morning，" I toldhim. The next morning， I scanned12 the three lists into the computer. And then I e-mailed theexacl same list to each grandma. （I don't know how it happened except to say it was early，and I hadn' t had coffee yet.）

“這是一年中最美好的时光。”我七岁的儿子内森大笑着唱道。我喜欢圣诞节，我确实喜欢。它美妙而温暖，将家人聚集在一起。这是个向我们所爱的人展示我们对他们真实感受的机会。

但那也会很忙，近乎混乱。12月份，我的待办事项比一年中任何时候都长。

但我真的很喜欢圣诞节。

12月初的一个晚上，我重重地倒在丈夫埃里克旁边的沙发上。为了这一季，我花了一整天的时间装饰房子，我累了。

“这棵树看起来很棒，亲爱的。”埃里克说。

“謝谢。遗憾的是，只会留三个星期的时间，然后我得再花一整天的时间把它全部拆掉。”我耸耸肩说，“它很漂亮，但有时我想知道所有的努力是否值得。”

他笑了，说：“我去年告诉过你，我觉得我们不装饰也可以。我知道这是一个大工程。”

我环顾了一下房子，喜欢上了装饰带来的温暖感觉。“我不能不为圣诞节做装饰。”我说，“想想孩子们会有多难过。”

他的笑容越来越大。“哦，是的，都是为了孩子们。”

我用胳膊肘轻推他。“好吧，我承认。我也喜欢。”

但第二天，我就不是那么喜欢它了。我有一长串与圣诞节有关的任务，但全都不顺利。上个星期，我把孩子们的心愿单发给了我的妈妈、我的婆婆，还有我以前的婆婆，她仍然是我们家的一员。我一直小心地盯着内森的清单，以确保他不会向一个以上的（外）祖母要同样的玩具。我让他列三张不同的单子，每个（外）祖母一张。他在列清单上做得很好，每个清单上的玩具数量差不多，但没有重复的东西。……