Who Me?是我吗？　ErikaTremper

The letter from the principal1 couldn’t have been clearer： The bus will pick upyour new kindergartner at the designated2 bus stop. Parents are not to ride withchildren on the bus， and under no circumstances3 are parents to come to theschool， whether to drop off their children or to take pictures. Parking is tight， evenfor teachers， staff， and buses， and additional cars are strictly forbidden at thebeginning or end of the school day.

校长的信说得再清楚不过了：公共汽车会在指定的站台接送你的幼儿园新生。家长们不能和孩子们一起乘车，在任何情况下，无论是送孩子还是拍照，家长们都不能来学校。停车位很紧张，即使是对教师、工作人员和公共汽车也不例外，而且在上学或放学时严禁停靠额外的车辆。

That was all understandable but they didn’t know my five-year-old twins. Shyand sensitive4， they hid whenever the doorbell rang. They couldn’t be coaxed5 outof their hiding places with ice cream， candy， or new toys. Their grandparents didn’tget a good look at them until they were about seven. They clung6 to me wheneverwe went out in public—one girl per leg. And while my Frankenstein -monster7walk was not graceful， it did have the advantage of providing a resistance8 trainingand aerobics9 for a busy mom.

这一切都可以理解，但他们不了解我五岁的双胞胎。她们又害羞又敏感，只要门铃一响，她们就会躲起来，人们无法用冰淇淋、糖果或新玩具把她们从藏身之地哄出来。她们的祖父母直到她们七岁左右才好好看到她们一眼。每当我们外出去公共场合时，她们都紧紧抓住我——每条腿上一个女孩。虽然我的科学怪人式漫步并不优雅，但它的优点是为一位忙碌的妈妈提供了阻力训练和有氧运动。

My fear on that first day of school was that my girls would hide under a busseat， or somehow get lost or stolen. The first day of school wouldn’t be easy forthem or me.

开学第一天，我担心我的女儿们会躲在公交车座位下，或者不知怎么迷路或被偷。上学的第一天对她们和我来说都不容易。

The day came， and it was sunny and beautiful. The girls were dressed in theirnew dresses and light-up sneakers. Each wore a nametag around her neck.

这一天到了，阳光明媚。女孩们穿着新裙子和发光的运动鞋。每个人脖子上都挂着一张名牌。

The bus was late， and they were nervous， but they smiled for the camera. I saton the front lawn under a shady tree for a minute， and their father finally took hiseye off the camera lens10 and took in what I was wearing.

公共汽车晚点了，她们很紧张，但她们还是对着镜头微笑。我在前院草坪上一棵树的树荫下坐了一分钟，她们的父亲终于把目光从相机镜头上移开，拍下了我的穿着。

“Oh， no， you’re not，”he said.

“哦，不，你不是吧。”他说。

I had on my running gear and favorite long-distance running shoes. The school was a few  miles away.

我穿上了我的跑步装备和最喜欢的长跑鞋。学校在几英里外。

“I am not going to run after the bus， if that’s what you’re thinking，”I said.

“我不会追着公交车跑的，如果你是这么想的话。”我说。

Our conversation was cut short when the bus approached. I watched my twogirls get on （how could human beings be so impossibly cute？）， turn and wave on thetop step， and then…

公共汽车驶来时，我们的谈话中断了。我看着我的两个女孩上了车（人类怎么会如此可爱？），转身在最上面的台阶上挥手，然后……

Okay， then I ran like hell. But I ran before the bus， not after the bus， so Iwasn’t lying to the husband. Can’t a woman go for a run？ I ran faster than I everran before.

好吧，然后我拼命地跑。但我是在公共汽车前面跑，而不是在公共汽车后面跑，所以我没有对丈夫撒谎。女人不能去跑步吗？我跑得比以前更快。

The bus finally overtook me a few hundred yards before the school building.Panting11， I made my way to the front entrance by sprinting12 from behind one carto another until， hidden safely behind a large SUV， I had a bird’s-eye view of everychild that climbed down the bus steps and walked into the school doors. As each busemptied， it would pull away， and the next bus in the row would pull up to the spotdirectly in front of the school entrance. I willed my breath to quiet down. My legs feltlike jelly， and I concentrated hard on just being still because getting caught wouldbe beyond embarrassing， even for me. Sweat dripped13 down my forehead and mixedwith the sunblock14 I had thoughtfully applied15 hours before， stinging my eyes andmaking them tear up.

公共汽车终于在离学校大楼几百码的地方超过了我。我气喘吁吁地去了学校前门入口。我从一辆车后面冲刺到另一辆车后面，直到安全地藏在一辆大型SUV 后面，才能鸟瞰爬下公交车台阶走进学校大门的每一个孩子。每辆公交车清空时都会驶离，排在这一排的下一辆公交车会停在学校门口的正前方。我调整呼吸让自己静下来。我的腿感觉像果冻一样，我集中精力保持静止不动，因为被抓到会非常尴尬，即使对我来说也是如此。汗水顺着我的额头流下来，与我几个小时前精心涂抹的防晒霜混合在一起，刺痛了我的眼睛，让它们流泪。

A few minutes went by. Two more buses emptied and left，and then there they were！ Chloe smiled shyly as the principalgave her a big smile and “Welcome！ ”Morgan stayed tightlybehind， chin16 down， but she was smiling and holding hersister’s hand.

几分钟过去了。又有两辆空的公共汽车离开了，然后她们在那儿！在校长给了克洛伊一个大大的微笑并说着“欢迎！”的时候，她害羞地笑了笑。摩根紧紧地站在后面，下巴低垂，但她微笑着握着她姐姐的手。

I said it was the sweat and the sunblock that made me tearup. I was lying about that part.

我说过是汗水和防晒霜让我泪流满面。在那部分我撒谎了。

（英语原文选自：chickensoup.com）