你是“三明治”吗？

The sandwich generation: 三明治一代。很形象的比喻，夹在两片面包中间，上有老下有小的人

Generation: 不同世代（的人）

Generational gap: 代沟

To be sandwiched between…：被夹在之间，也可以形容非常拥挤

We’re sandwiched between our parents and our children: 我们被夹在父母和孩子两辈中间。

The bus was packed. I was sandwiched between people the whole ride: 巴士非常挤，我全程都被人牢牢挤着。

养育下一代

Parenting is hard: 当父母很不容易(parent也是动词）

Raising kids and bringing them up goes much more beyond keeping them warm and fed: 养育孩子远远超过让他们吃饱穿暖。

Nurturing your children includes everything from taking care of their physical to their emotional needs : 养育、培养孩子包括照顾他们身心、情绪各方面的需求。

中国圈养、美国人放养？

Hands-on parenting: “圈养”

Hands-off parenting: “放养”、放手

Free-range parenting: 也是放养的意思

Helicopter parenting: “直升机”式父母，形容一直盘旋在孩子上空，过度关注、介入的父母

Helicopter parenting has become increasingly common in America: “直升机”式父母在美国也越来越普遍。

Although generally speaking, there’s less academic pressure in America, there is a huge emphasis on sports and other kinds of enrichment activities, packing kids’ schedules: 虽然总体而言，美国的学业压力不是那么大。但对孩子在体育和其它兴趣特长方面很重视，孩子的时间表也排得很满。

It can create a lot of tension between kids and parents: 有时会造成孩子与父母之间关系紧张。

孝敬父母

The expectation or the sense of obligation to take care of your aging parents is less in American culture: 美国文化中对孩子要照顾年老父母的预期或者义务感比较小。

说到“孝敬”“孝顺·”，虽然字典会写“filial piety”，但这个概念不是植根于英美文化的，所以英语里也很少会用到。更常用的英语表达包括：

Caring for your parents: 照顾父母、关心他们

Paying them back: 报答他们（pay back不只是经济上的）

Be grateful to your parents: 感激父母

Although the cultural expectation is lower, reality is a different story. Many Americans are the primary caretakers of their parents: 虽然文化上没有这个期待，但现实是另一回事。很多美国人也都承担着照顾父母的首要责任。

压力中年

Mid life: 中年人生阶段 （不是middle life)

Middle aged: 中年的

Pressure from all fronts: 来自各方面的压力

Financial pressure: 经济压力

Professional pressure: 事业压力

Feeling squeezed: 感觉被压得喘不过气

All these responsibilities might be stretching your emotional bandwidth: 所有这些责任会挑战你的情绪半径

Important to carve out your own space: 尽量保留一些自己的空间很重要

Finding and keeping your happy place: 寻找并保留自己的天地（还记得我们不久前教过的happy place这一表达吗？不一定是实际的地点，更多指无形的心灵空间）

You need an emotional outlet and a support network: 你需要情绪出口, 也需要一个支持网络

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