【贝贝熊系列之二】And Too Much Pressure

贝贝熊学英语系列 - And Too Much Pressure

[前言] The Berenstain Bears – Stories are set in Bear Country, a society composed entirely of bears. Story lines typically follow the Bear family as they deal with topics relevant to both children and parents. It is a series of excellent books to learn child education and parenting skills. Lilac09 rewrites these stories for English studying.

When cubs and their parents get a little too busy,
their everyday lives get a little too dizzy.

There was no question that the Bear family was the busiest family in the Bear country. They used to do things that most families do: they worked and played, went to school, visited friends, enjoyed nature – and once in a while they just sat around and did absolutely nothing.

They didn’t plan on becoming busy. It sort of sneaked up on ( 悄悄地接近 ) them. First, there were just little League for Brother bear and ballet for Sister bear. But when Sister ’s best friend, Lizzy, started riding lessons, Sister just had to take that up ( 感兴趣 ). And Brother wasn’t about to be left out of something as exciting as horseback riding. That’s how it was with other activities. They signed up for this. They signed up for that. Before anyone thought to say enough is enough, they were all swamped ( 淹没, 非常忙碌 ) by the whirlpool ( 漩涡 ) of activities.

Things got so complicated that Mama bear had to make a big schedule to keep things straight. Saturday was especially difficult since they had 6 activities in a row from the morning to the evening. There was not even one minute to waste. Every one went up earlier than usual. Mama was preparing breakfast and getting lunch packed. Sister was getting ready for the ballet and Brother was getting on his baseball stuff, while Papa was checking their car in the garage.

Suddenly, the phone rang. No one had time to answer it. It took Mama seven rings to reach it. It was from Grandma, calling to invite the Bear family over for dinner sometime soon. When Mama was trying to explain to Grandma their busy schedule, her shoulder bag got tangled in the phone cord, which pulled the phone down with a clunk ( 发出沉闷声 ). Mama had to stoop ( 弯腰 ) to pick up the phone. Her hat fell off and when he reached for the hat, she tripped over the cord and was now sitting in a tangled heap on the floor. What a not so smooth morning to start with!

To make it worse, Daddy came in with the bad news about the car – the spark plugs needed cleaning. “Not for now!” and roared off Mama, leaving Daddy in a cloud of dust.

Everyone was beat out by the end of the day. Sister and Brother skipped their favorite TV programs and went to bed early, fell asleep and dreamed, all nightmares. Daddy didn’t sleep well either. And Mama didn’t sleep a wink ( 一点都没睡 ), staring into the darkness the whole night and wondering how she was going to get through the next day - a very difficult day ahead. There’s art, swimming, soccer, dancing and they also needed to squeeze in lunch and weekly grocery shopping.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, Mama shooed ( 发出嘘声赶 ) cubs into the car and she turned the key. But the car wouldn’t start. Brother and Sister were screaming their complaints, jumping up and down at the back seat. No matter how hard Mama tried, the car wouldn’t budge. Must be that damn spark plug! Then Mama did a something the cubs had never seen her do before. She started to cry, not just cry. She boohooed ( 哇哇大哭 ) all her way to the bedroom.

Brother and Sister were so shocked that they totally forgot their dance and soccer classes. Brother called Papa in his workplace. They didn’t know what’s wrong with Mama. Papa said, “There is something wrong with the spark plug which needs to be cleaned. What’s really wrong behind is the schedule of ours. Mama didn’t sleep at all last night, worrying about it.”

“I didn’t sleep well either”, admitted Brother

“Me either”, said Sister

“That makes three of us”, sighed Papa.

So the bears had an emergent family meeting that day. The cubs agreed that two after-school activities a week were more than enough. They picked their own most favorite two and cancelled all the others.

True, the Bear family now lost their title of the Busiest Family in Bear Country. But they went back to their normal life and had a good time. They worked and played, went to school, visited friends, enjoy nature –

And once in a while they just sat around and did absolutely nothing. It felt so good.