我的小天使 My Little Angel
I had offered to watch my 3－year－old daughter， Ramanda， so that my wife could go out with a friend． I was getting some work done while Ramanda appeared to be having a good time in the other room． No problem， I figured． But then it got a little too quiet and I yelled out， "What are you doing， Ramanda?" No response． I repeated my question and heard her say， "Oh．．．nothing．" Nothing? What does "nothing" mean?
我主动提出照看我3岁的女儿，Ramanda，以便妻子能和她的朋友出去逛逛。我在做些事，此时Ramanda似乎在另一个房间玩得也很开心。我知道，没什么问题。突然间一点动静都没有了，于是我喊道：“Ramanda，你在干什么？”没有回答。我重复问了几次，这时听她说道：“没什么”，“没什么？那是什么意思？”
I got up from my desk and ran out into the living room， whereupon（于是） I saw her take off down the hall． I chased her up the stairs and watched her as her little behind made a hard left into the bedroom． I was gaining on her！ She took off for the bathroom． Bad move． I had her cornered． I told her to turn around． She refused． I pulled out my big， mean， authoritative Daddy voice， "Young lady， I said turn around！"
我从桌旁起身跑进起居室，我看见她溜到客厅，我追到楼梯上看到她的小背影跑进卧室，我正要靠近她，她又跑到了洗漱室。真晕。我在墙角处逮到了她，我让她转身，她不从。于是我用威严的父亲的那种声调说道“小姐，我命令你转身。”
Slowly， she turned toward me． In her hand was what was left of my wife's new lipstick（口红，唇膏）． And every square inch of her face was covered with bright red （except her lips of course）！
慢慢地，她转过身，手里拿着我妻子的新口红。她的脸上涂满了明亮的红色（除了嘴唇）。
As she looked up at me with fearful eyes， lips trembling， I heard every voice that had been shouted to me as a child． "How could you．．．You should know better than that．．．How many times have you been told．．．What a bad thing to do．．．" It was just a matter of my picking out which old message I was going to use on her so that she would know what a bad girl she had been． But before I could let loose（释放，屈服）， I looked down at the sweatshirt my wife had put on her only an hour before． In big letters it said， "I'M A PERFECT LITTLE ANGEL！" I looked back up into her tearful eyes and instead of seeing a bad girl who didn't listen， I saw a child of God．．．a perfect little angel full of worth， value and a wonderful spontaneity（自发性） that I had come dangerously close to shaming out of her．
当她用惊慌的眼神抬头看着我时，她的嘴唇在颤抖，我听见了那些应对小孩说的话“你怎么能……你应该知道……告诉你多少次了……你做了见多糟糕的事……”现在只需要选句常说的老话来警告她，以便让她知道自己有多坏。但是在我说这些话之前，我低头看见了妻子一个小时前让她穿上的运动衫，上面用很大的字母写着“我是个完美的小天使”，我回头看见了她眼中的泪水，这次我看到的不是一个坏女孩，而是上帝的女儿……一个有价值，很自主的完美小天使，我险些让她蒙羞而使她丧失这些品质。
"Sweetheart， you look beautiful！ Let's take a picture so Mommy can see how special you look．" I took the picture and thanked God that I didn't miss the opportunity to reaffirm what a perfect little angel he had given me．
“宝贝，你看起来漂亮极了，我们拍张照让妈妈来看看你看起来有多特别”，我给她拍了照片，感谢上帝，我没有错失赞美小天使的机会，她是上帝赐予我的。
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