英語美文:“蝸居”之百味 Living in an Apartment

閱讀，不是為了得到什么，而是在被生活打擊的無路可退時最后的安身之所。靜靜等待，閱讀，一定會給予你獎勵。下面是英語美文:“蝸居”之百味 Living in an Apartment的資料，希望你會喜歡！

　What’s it like living in an apartment with a baby?” is a question I am often asked. Usually it’s from someone expecting her first baby and trying to decide where to live.
　　帶著一個小寶寶住在公寓里會是怎樣的呢?”這是我常被問及的一個問題。通常,提問的都是些懷著第一胎,考慮要搬去哪里住的準(zhǔn)媽媽。

　　If there is one thing I’ve learned from all these years of apartment living, it’s that I don’t need a house to have a home.
　　如果說這些年的公寓生活讓我學(xué)到了一樣?xùn)|西,那就是,我不需要非得擁有一座房子才算擁有一個家。

　　And that’s the truth. There is something really special about having a story that begins, “When we first started out, we lived in a small apartment…”
　　這是事實(shí)。以“我們一開始只是住在一間小公寓里……”這樣的語句開始講述一段奮斗歷程,還真有點(diǎn)特別。

　　But that’s not all there is to it of course. When all our friends were buying houses, we chose to stay in an apartment, and here is how our experience has been so far.
　　當(dāng)然,還不止。當(dāng)年我們所有的朋友都在買房子,我們卻選擇住在一間公寓里,以下就是迄今為止我們對住公寓的一些感受。

　　We lived in a one bedroom apartment when we found out we were expecting Lane. After the shock 1)wore off, one of my first thoughts was for the 2)nursery. I wanted a room that was beautiful just like in the pictures I saw.
　　發(fā)現(xiàn)懷上連恩的時候,我們本來是住在只有一間臥室的公寓里。驚喜過后定下神來,我首先想到的一件事就是得有個嬰兒房。我想要一個漂亮的房間,就像我在圖冊上看到過的那種。

　　We had a small 3)side room with a4)slouchy couch and a television set. We sold the couch (and later the television) and turned that little space into a baby room with a crib and a changing area. We turned a 5)wet bar cabinet into an organized baby closet. With just a few changes our one-bedroom apartment had a nursery.
　　我們的公寓里有個邊角空間,那里原來放著一張軟沙發(fā)和一臺電視機(jī)。我們賣掉了沙發(fā)(后來把電視也賣掉了),把那點(diǎn)空間弄成一個嬰兒房,在里面放了一張嬰兒床,以及一個換尿布臺。我們把一個吧臺櫥柜改造成了一個井然有序的嬰兒用品柜。不過是簡單地改造了幾下,我們這間只有一個臥室的公寓就擁有了一個嬰兒房。

　　We had no option but to live with less stuff than catalogs say you need. We chose “travel size” for a lot of things. We didn’t need a baby bathtub when we could give our kid a bath in the kitchen sink. 6)Craigslist was our storage unit. Knowing we couldn’t keep baby 7)gear long-term, I bought and sold stuff as we needed it, and sometimes I even sold things for more than I paid.
　　沒辦法,我們只能輕裝宅居,并沒推銷冊子上羅列的各式必需品。很多東西我們都是挑其“輕便裝”來買。既然能把寶寶放在廚房水槽里洗澡,我們就不需要嬰兒澡盆?？死赘袼沽λ固胤诸悘V告網(wǎng)站是我們的“儲藏室”。明白到我們是不會長期用那些嬰兒用具的,我會根據(jù)需要來買進(jìn)或賣出一些東西,有時,同一件物品,我的賣出價甚至還高于買入價。

　　We didn’t buy many toys, but our baby didn’t mind playing with apples, pears, and sheets of paper, the occasional cardboard box, or stuff from my closet. We often reminded people, “We don’t have much space in our apartment,” and they helped us by considering that. Most toys came from grandparents, and some toys stayed at the grandparents’ house.
　　我們沒有買很多玩具,但我們的寶寶不介意玩蘋果、雪梨、紙張、偶爾出現(xiàn)的紙盒,或是我壁櫥里的東西。我們經(jīng)常跟別人提起:“我們的公寓很小”,他們考慮到這點(diǎn)就會給予我們幫助。大部分玩具都是祖父母給的,有些還在他們家里放著。

　　Our big challenge was storage: not baby storage, just regular stuff. We didn’t have a kitchen 8)pantry, so our crackers and dry goods were in the bathroom under the towels. With everything stuffed into every possible storage space in whatever way it could fit, we often left it exposed for baby exploring. It was so easy for her to pull out everything that was accessible, and I spent a lot of time putting stuff back.
　　我們最大的挑戰(zhàn)在于物品儲存:不是嬰兒用品,而是些日常物品。我們的廚房沒有食物儲存柜,所以我們把餅干和其他干貨放在浴室的毛巾下面。所有東西都被我們左擠右塞,能用的空間都被我們?nèi)麧M了,往往沒遮沒蓋地任由寶寶去“探索”。對她來說,把那些她夠得著的東西拉出來是件輕而易舉的事,而我得花費(fèi)大量時間把東西放回原處。

　　Having a 9)patio outside space saved my 10)sanity more than once. We frequently went places, visiting parks and coffee shops. Every weekend we were glad not to have to keep up with a lawn.
　　幸虧有露天庭院這樣的戶外空間,不然我就不止一次處于精神崩潰的境地。我們經(jīng)常去別處,逛公園和咖啡店。每個周末,我們都慶幸自己無需打理草坪。

　　Baby #2 was coming, and I briefly thought about staying. Our rent was cheap, but our apartment was lacking. We decided to pay more, and we moved to an apartment that was bigger and better with a park close by. I’m glad we decided to pay the extra money because with two kids I stay home more, and it’s nicer. I think the lack of windows in our old apartment was making me depressed.
　　第二個孩子快要出生了,一絲想繼續(xù)住在原來的公寓里的念頭閃過我的腦海。那時我們的租金便宜,只是那公寓的空間實(shí)在不夠用了,于是我們決定多花一點(diǎn)錢,搬進(jìn)了一間更大、條件更好且臨近公園的公寓里。我很慶幸作了這個決定,因?yàn)橛辛藘蓚€孩子后,我呆在家里的時間更多了,居住環(huán)境也更好了。我覺得,因?yàn)橹白〉哪情g老公寓沒有窗,所以老是讓人感覺很抑郁。

　　The kids share a room, and a while ago I shared a tour of how we made a place for both of them. It has its challenges (one kid is a light sleeper).
　　孩子們共用一個房間,而不久前,我還帶別人在公寓里逛了一圈,與其分享我們是如何為兩個孩子開辟出一個房間來的。這里面也有不少難題(其中一個孩子睡得不沉,很容易醒)。

　　Sometimes I wish I could decorate any way I want. Sometimes I wish we didn’t have carpet. Wow, I’m just thinking of all the reasons why I wish we didn’t have carpet.
　　有時,我希望能隨心所欲地去裝飾公寓。有時,我又希望我們沒有鋪地毯。呀,我正好在想著自己不希望鋪地毯的各種理由。

　　We use cloth diapers, but we have our own washer and dryer. I don’t think I would use cloth if I had to go to a 11)laundromat, though I know more persistent people who have done it.
　　我們使用布質(zhì)尿布,但我們有自己的洗衣機(jī)和干衣機(jī)。我想,如果我們要去自助洗衣店,我們就不會用布質(zhì)尿布了,盡管我認(rèn)識一些更有毅力的人是這么做的。

　　We invite small friends to play and it makes it really noisy for our downstairs neighbor.
　　我們邀請小朋友們來玩,但這讓我們樓下的鄰居感覺確實(shí)有點(diǎn)吵。

　　I like being able to always know where my kids are. I like always being within 12)earshot of them.
　　我喜歡隨時知道孩子們在哪里。我喜歡總能聽見他們的聲音,跟他們相隔不遠(yuǎn)。

　　Sometimes we drive by our old apartment which is just five minutes away, and my four-year-old always says, “I don’t like our new home, Mommy, I like our old home better. I like my old room better. It’s little. Little kids need little rooms.” So there you have it.
　　有時,我們駕車經(jīng)過我們以前住的老公寓——離我們的新居只有五分鐘的車程——我那四歲大的孩子總說:“我不喜歡我們的新家,媽媽,我更喜歡我們以前的家。我更喜歡我的舊房間。它很小。小孩子需要小的房間。”你看,就是這樣的。

　　I don’t know how long we’ll stay in an apartment, but it’s definitely helped make our lives better. It’s been good, and it’s been worth it.
　　我不知道我們還會在公寓里住多久,但這種生活經(jīng)歷肯定有助于使我們的生活變得越來越好。住在公寓里感覺很好,這段生活經(jīng)歷也很值得。