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成长是否太快了些?(下) |
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Growing up too fast? II
At what age a boy dates depends very much on the bo
y himself. And again, physical size bears no relation t
o emotional readiness. Anywhere from thirteen or fourte
en on, a boy may be ready to leave the teasing group of
boys and go on his first date. His family will be well
prepared for the matamorphosis that may occur.
The first sign, of course, is cleanliness. He will
suddently begin bathing without reminders, lengthily co
mbing his hair before setting out for school instead of
merely running the comb—or more likely, his fingers —th
rough it. Suddenly his shoes may seem to take on a poli
sh, and he will stop biting his fingernails. He will re
quire two or three times his usual number of clean shir
ts, and he will even take an unusual interest in ties,
socks, and handkerchiefs, hitherto items of no interest
at all. He may also beg in to agitate about his inadequ
ate allowance and start wondering out loud how he can a
ugment it by a little manual labour. He constantly asks
if anyone notices how deep his voice is getting. It is
usually Mother who sees the signs first. She knows inst
inctively that her son is about to take his first steps
away from her apron strings. Most of what she can do fo
r him she has already done. Soon he will probably turn
more and more to his father for counsel, or to some fat
her substitute.
Boys usually begin by going to games and school dan
ces stag. They yearn from the sidelines, while pretendi
ng a vast lack of interest in the equally cohesive girl
s. After a certain amount of this, mothers often sugges
t, "Joe, why don't you take Mary to the game this after
noon? " This is usually met with a derisive snort, but
soon, sure enough, Mary and Joe are eating popcorn toge
ther in the bleachers. As a result of the motherly appr
oval he needed, Joe has probably blurted, "You want to
go to the game tomorrow, Mary?" and Mary has said, "Sur
e." From then on, making dates is easy enough.
by Xu Kaiyuan |
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