Itisnotunusualatallforteenstoanswertheirparentswithoneworkanswers.“Whereareyougoing?”“Places.”“Whenwillyoubeback?”“Sometime.”“Whowillyoubewith?”“People.”
Thatmeansthatthedaysofyourchildrenboundinginthefrontdoorwiththedetailsoftheirdayareover.Theyarebreakingawayfromyousothatthey’llbeabletostandontheirownasayoungadult.
Someparentsfeelsadaboutthislossoftheirchildren’scloseness.Ofcourseyoumissthoseconversationsandfriendlytalks.Onceyourchildrenmoveoutafterhighschoolandestablishthemselvesconfidentlyasayoungadult,they’llcomebackforeasyconversationsandevenaskforadvice.Butinordertodeterminewhotheyarerightnowtheyneedtoseparatefromyou.
Yourjob,however,istokeepthemsafe——andthatrequiresknowingtheretheyareandwhotheyarewith.Letthemknowclearlythatit’snotbecauseyouwanttodominatetheirlifeandcontrolthem;it’sbecauseit’sasafetyissueforfamilymemberstokeeptrackofoneanother.
Whenthey’rehomeandsitdowntoeatameal,sitdownwiththem.Youneedtoopenuptothemaboutyourlife.Tellthemofaninterestingincidentattheoffice,lettheminonabitoffamilygossip(闲谈),discussapieceofnewswiththem.Theyaregladthatyouseethemasoldenoughtobeinonafewexperiencesofyourlife.Bylettingateeninonyourlife,theyjustmayletyouinoftheirs
小题1:Theunderlinedword“That”inParagraph2probablyrefersto“      ”.