老大不言而喻家里的第一个孩子，初为人父母的都是从摸索中学习，老大自然成了教育的试验品。自小就怕培养不成才。五岁半钢琴赶紧搬进门。老师得请国内来的一流音乐学院的教授。光有音乐哪行，体育也得跟上，跆拳道， 游泳都不能少。游了一阵Group Lesson 进步不大，快请奥运冠军一对一。还真见效，没多久就进了外面的年龄段游泳队，游了两年腻了，改换水球队。老妈我牺牲了所有的晚间和周末，马路上车轮子飞转，从黄昏奔到天黑。憧憬着儿子的未来，即使打着雨伞等儿子游泳，冷得发抖，心里还热乎乎的。

这样年复一年地过着，谁知有一天儿子终于长大到有勇气表达个人思想的时候，竟然对我说我给他选的这些才艺，没一个是他喜欢的。我听了先是发懵，后是愤怒。难道我的时间和银子就这么打水漂了？几经交锋，架不住他消极抵抗，没法子，一项一项地“枪毙”。 只剩下钢琴坚持下来，那是因为他喜欢古典音乐。我在失望，叹息至余下了结论，老大估计是造就不出来了。做个平平常常的人算了。 放下了好高骛远的心态，反倒轻松了许多。在仔细看看老大，觉得他优点也不少。尤其是那颗善良诚实的心。一次被同学欺负很委屈，问他为什么不告老师，他说告了以后，同学就会被带到校长室受到警告。再有一次，写一篇project， 他在网上找source, 弄到很晚。我就说你就copy and paste 得了，要不就不用睡觉了。他照着做了，第二天老师问这是他自己写的吗？他说不是，是我妈叫我抄的，老师当场表扬了他的诚实。害得我连家长会都不敢去。

 

老大的动手能力也是我很欣赏的。买来的散装件，一会儿就被他装成了家具或用具。早饭从来自个儿解决。 家里的BBQ party ，老大常负责烤肉。火候掌握的恰到好处。厕所堵了，不怕脏不怕累得通渠。有了小弟弟后，责无旁贷地照顾弟弟，带弟弟玩儿，洗澡。无论老大走到哪儿，后面都跟这个小尾巴。有时也觉得是不是老大做的太多了，可转念一想，要是他将来能当个好丈夫，好父亲，不也是跟儿媳妇间接地搞好关系吗？为自己德内疚找理由呢。

 

自从我把强加给他的才艺重任都卸掉了，就再没刻意地培养过他什么。总觉得剃头挑子一头热，到头来还是竹篮子打水一场空。有了老二就更顾不上了。谁知放手了反倒给了他时间和自由发挥自己真正的兴趣和爱好。老大对历史，地理爱的痴迷。去书店或图书馆总是抱回一堆枯燥的史地书，一个人津津有味地读者。全家出游的总策划兼我家的“百科全书”。今年老大跨入了teenager 的行列，好像更董事了不少，除了继续追求他热爱的历史，地理及痴迷的乐队，偶尔还能说出一些令人感动的话，比如说将来父母老了，弟弟大学的学费怎么办？老大说他付。有这句话就叫人很开心了。

 

老大像个中庸之道的人，将来能平平淡淡地过日子，做着自个儿喜欢的事儿就会心满意足。何必争强好胜地奔出人头地的事儿呢？做个历史，地理老师吧？一年三个月的假期可以尽情地去想去的地方旅游，那不是你最喜欢的吗？对于我的建议，老大不置可否。年纪还小，听不太明白。鉴于我的经验，小孩儿的兴趣不是靠家长发掘的，而是渐渐长大后自然流露。所以，奉劝孩子还小的家长多给小孩儿一点儿自由。让他多点时间做自己喜欢的事儿。 别老把自个儿的想法强加给孩子。

 

下面是老大前一阵写的一篇关于历史的文章，被teen inc 读者选为当天最受欢迎的文章。teen inc 不是什么了不起的出版物，只是个给teenager 发表自个作品的网络杂志。声明一下，与“爬藤“毫无关联。且仅存在一天而已。

Dear xxx,

Congratulations again from Teen Ink. As mentioned yesterday, your article, World War II, received high scores from our readers and is now featured on the front page of the Nonfiction -> Academic section of TeenInk.com!

Every day, we choose the most popular articles on our website and display them on the front page of each section. So today is your day.

Your work is now visible to hundreds of thousands of people who visit our website regularly, and it will stay on the front page of Nonfiction -> Academic for the entire day.

 

文章如下：

 

  

World War II was one of the most devastating wars the US took part in, and began almost immediately after World War I. At this time, only two parties were left: the communist party and the socialist party controlled by Adolf Hitler. Hitler had managed to win the support of the German citizens and started a plan to dominate the world, invading countries such as Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Lithuania. When he attacked Poland, however, many countries like United States, England, Soviet Union, and France, known as the Allied Powers, banded together and tried to stop Hitler. These military aggressions thus started World War 2. In the beginning, Hitler and his army were doing well; however, Hitler later thought he needed allies of his own and convinced Japan that if it were his ally, he would help it win China. Unfortunately, allying with Japan was a mistake that led to Hitler’s fall; when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, it angered the US and forced it to join the Allied Powers in World War II.

Many people know that the Pearl Harbor incident was a horrific bombing that forced US to join the Allied Powers in World War II.  What they don’t know, however, are the reasons behind it. For instance, when the US placed an oil embargo on Japan, it angered the nation and forced it to bomb Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was a military base that kept a lot of equipment, including warships, the power station, shipyard, torpedoes, fuel storage facilities, and fighter jets. The Japanese were forced to do this bombing, since the US had placed an oil embargo on Japan. Because Japan was poor in resources and received 80% of its oil from the US it relied on American oil the embargo denied them. Thus, Japan faced the decision of either to backing down from their quest in China or staying in China and going to war; the Japanese decided to take the risk and stay in China,  bombing Pearl Harbor to force the US Navy to retreat to California and allow the Japanese to conquer the Pacific Islands.

 

 

The effects of this bombing were enormous: four Navy battleships, three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft ship, and a minelayer were destroyed. Moreover, 188 aircraft were destroyed, 2,402 people were killed, and 1,282 were wounded. Even Japan had some losses, but their losses were light, with only 29 aircrafts and 5 submarines destroyed, and 65 men killed or wounded. On the other hand, the United States lost a lot of money and lives from this incident, and possibly faced oil spillovers into the waters from sinking ships.

In the beginning of the war, Germany was fighting well, successfully conquering many lands in Europe. When the US joined the war, however, Germany began falling in power and started to retreat back.  The US was a big military power at the time, and could produce more tanks, planes, ammunition, and weapons in larger quantities and faster. Moreover, the United States was able to recruit tons of soldiers to fight, overwhelming Hitler’s army.

In conclusion, allying with Japan was the cause of Hitler’s fall from power, primarily because Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and thus forced the US to join the war. The US was a powerful military power at the time and could produce more equipment faster. It also had knowledge of powerful bombs and could make Japan surrender by using the bombs, dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Hitler to fight alone.