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人们常说 ：母爱至高无上。的确如此，也许你现在不能完全理解这句话，也许只有当你“为人父母”时才能体会到它的深刻含义。但是无论如何，你一定要记住：最应当感激的人不是别人，正是我们的母亲。
There is no job more important than parenting. I can find the answer from my mother.
My belief began when I was just a kid. I dreamed of becoming a doctor.
My mother was a domestic. Through her work, she observed that successful people spent a lot more time reading than they did watching television. She announced that my brother and I could only watch two to three pre-selected TV programs during the week. With our free time, we had to read two books each from the Detroit Public Library and submit to her written book reports. She would mark them up with check marks and highlights. Years later we realized her marks were a ruse1. My mother was illiterate2. She had only received a third-grade education.
Although we had no money, between the covers of those books, I could go anywhere, do anything and be anybody.
When I entered high school I was an A student, but not for long. I wanted the fancy clothes. I wanted to hang out with the guys. I went from being an A student to a B student to a C student, but I didn’t care. I was getting the high fives and the low fives and the pats on the back. I was cool.
One night my mother came home from working her multiple jobs and I complained about not having enough Italian knit shirts. She said, “Okay, I’ll give you all the money I make this week scrubbing3 floors and cleaning bathrooms, and you can buy the family food and pay the bills. With everything left over, you can have all the Italian knit shirts you want.”
I was very pleased with that arrangement but once I got through allocating4 money, there was nothing left. I realized my mother was a financial genius to be able to keep a roof over our heads and any kind of food on the table, much less buy clothes.
I also realized that immediate gratification wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Success required intellectual preparation.
I went back to my studies and became an A student again, and eventually I fulfilled my dream and I became a doctor.
My story is really my mother’s story－a woman with little formal education or worldly goods who used her position as a parent to change the lives of many people around the globe. There is no job more important than parenting. This I believe.
为人父母是最伟大的工作，这一点可以在我母亲身上找到答案。
在孩提时代，我就有自己的梦想，那就是成为一名医生。
我的母亲做过女佣。在工作中她觉察到，成功人士看书的时间要远远多于看电视的时间。于是母亲给我们“约法三章”：我和弟弟每周只能看两三个事先选定的电视节目，其余闲暇时间阅读两本从底特律公共图书馆借来的书，并把读书笔记交给她。从那些圈圈点点的符号和标记出的重点可以看出，母亲认真地看过我们的读书笔记。多年后我们才发现那是母亲的计谋。她几乎是个文盲，只上到小学三年级。
虽然那时候家里很穷，但通过读书，我们能领略世界各地的风土人情，能体味很多事情的乐趣，也能了解不同人的不同生活。
升入中学时，我是名A等生，但好景不长，我便开始迷恋奇装异服，与一群男孩儿混迹于校园。我的学习成绩每况愈下，从A等生降到B等生，最后沦为C等生，但我并不在乎。老师和同学有的给我打气，有的给我泼冷水，还有人给我安慰，我竟然还感觉很棒。
一天晚上，疲惫不堪的母亲回家了。我不停地向她抱怨自己从来就没有一件像样的意大利针织衫。听了后她开口对我说：“好，我把这星期擦地板、洗厕所赚的钱都给你，让你安排全家人的开销，剩下的钱都拿去买意大利针织衫吧。” 捞到这一美差，我不禁暗暗狂喜，可当我计划好各种开支后，竟已分文不剩。那一刻，我终于意识到，母亲就是个理财高手，她能让我们有地方住、有东西吃，更不用说买衣服了。我明白了，一时的满足并不能真正给我带来什么，成功必须以足够的才智作为后盾。
我又重新投入学习，做回了A等生，最终实现了当医生的梦想。
我的故事其实就是母亲的故事——是一个未受过教育、没有一点私人财富的母亲改变了世上很多人的生活的故事。我坚信，没有比为人父母更伟大的工作了。
艾草摘译自Teen Life
There is no job more important than parenting. I can find the answer from my mother.
My belief began when I was just a kid. I dreamed of becoming a doctor.
My mother was a domestic. Through her work, she observed that successful people spent a lot more time reading than they did watching television. She announced that my brother and I could only watch two to three pre-selected TV programs during the week. With our free time, we had to read two books each from the Detroit Public Library and submit to her written book reports. She would mark them up with check marks and highlights. Years later we realized her marks were a ruse1. My mother was illiterate2. She had only received a third-grade education.
Although we had no money, between the covers of those books, I could go anywhere, do anything and be anybody.
When I entered high school I was an A student, but not for long. I wanted the fancy clothes. I wanted to hang out with the guys. I went from being an A student to a B student to a C student, but I didn’t care. I was getting the high fives and the low fives and the pats on the back. I was cool.
One night my mother came home from working her multiple jobs and I complained about not having enough Italian knit shirts. She said, “Okay, I’ll give you all the money I make this week scrubbing3 floors and cleaning bathrooms, and you can buy the family food and pay the bills. With everything left over, you can have all the Italian knit shirts you want.”
I was very pleased with that arrangement but once I got through allocating4 money, there was nothing left. I realized my mother was a financial genius to be able to keep a roof over our heads and any kind of food on the table, much less buy clothes.
I also realized that immediate gratification wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Success required intellectual preparation.
I went back to my studies and became an A student again, and eventually I fulfilled my dream and I became a doctor.
My story is really my mother’s story－a woman with little formal education or worldly goods who used her position as a parent to change the lives of many people around the globe. There is no job more important than parenting. This I believe.
为人父母是最伟大的工作，这一点可以在我母亲身上找到答案。
在孩提时代，我就有自己的梦想，那就是成为一名医生。
我的母亲做过女佣。在工作中她觉察到，成功人士看书的时间要远远多于看电视的时间。于是母亲给我们“约法三章”：我和弟弟每周只能看两三个事先选定的电视节目，其余闲暇时间阅读两本从底特律公共图书馆借来的书，并把读书笔记交给她。从那些圈圈点点的符号和标记出的重点可以看出，母亲认真地看过我们的读书笔记。多年后我们才发现那是母亲的计谋。她几乎是个文盲，只上到小学三年级。
虽然那时候家里很穷，但通过读书，我们能领略世界各地的风土人情，能体味很多事情的乐趣，也能了解不同人的不同生活。
升入中学时，我是名A等生，但好景不长，我便开始迷恋奇装异服，与一群男孩儿混迹于校园。我的学习成绩每况愈下，从A等生降到B等生，最后沦为C等生，但我并不在乎。老师和同学有的给我打气，有的给我泼冷水，还有人给我安慰，我竟然还感觉很棒。
一天晚上，疲惫不堪的母亲回家了。我不停地向她抱怨自己从来就没有一件像样的意大利针织衫。听了后她开口对我说：“好，我把这星期擦地板、洗厕所赚的钱都给你，让你安排全家人的开销，剩下的钱都拿去买意大利针织衫吧。” 捞到这一美差，我不禁暗暗狂喜，可当我计划好各种开支后，竟已分文不剩。那一刻，我终于意识到，母亲就是个理财高手，她能让我们有地方住、有东西吃，更不用说买衣服了。我明白了，一时的满足并不能真正给我带来什么，成功必须以足够的才智作为后盾。
我又重新投入学习，做回了A等生，最终实现了当医生的梦想。
我的故事其实就是母亲的故事——是一个未受过教育、没有一点私人财富的母亲改变了世上很多人的生活的故事。我坚信，没有比为人父母更伟大的工作了。
艾草摘译自Teen Life