The Children

By C.Northcote Parkinson.

Knowing that children may be desirable, we need to decide upon their number. All thought rejects the only child, thus making two the minimum, just not enough to reach the population at its present level. A family having one boy and a girl is well-balanced. In case of a single illness or accident with a boy might extinguish the family’s male line, there is reason to have a reserve.

The large family of five or more is not generally desirable. Five children at an average interval of two years must imply a quarter of a century spent in changing nappies and supervising homework. This is justifiable only on the assumption that the children matter more than the parents. But why should this be assumed? There are instances, to be sure, where the fact is evident, but the theory that parents should always live for their children is absurd. That the child might be Isaak Newton is true, but the father might be Jonathan Sebastian Bach. To conclude that each generation must matter less than the next is ridiculous and will lead us nowhere …

All that is left for the child-oriented parent is the prospect of becoming a grandparent. This is merely an opportunity to make the same mistake again. It is true that a grandmother is sometimes the answer to the babysitter career, but this justifies her in making a baby-sitter career. Early marriage has changed the pattern of grand-maternity. The girl who marries at 18 will be about 37 when she becomes a grandmother. The only solution is to be less obsessed with children. Where mother and father devote themselves to parenthood, children gain a wrong notion of their own importance. Taking themselves too seriously, they feel that their point of view is significant; that the world of today is something which only they can comprehend; and that future of mankind depends on what they say and do. This sense of mission has led some politicians to believe that young people have a new maturity.

Vocabulary:

Reject- отвергать, отбрасывать

Well-balanced - уравновешенный, сбалансированный

Extinguish – гасить, погасить, убивать

To imply - подразумевать

Nappy - пеленка

Absurd - абсурд

Generation - поколение

To justify – оправдывать

Solution- решение

Significant- значительный

Maturity - зрелость

Exercise1. Answer the questions:

What problems can a couple with desirable children have? How many children does a family need to be well-balanced? Why is it important to have a boy in a family? Why is the family of five with interval of 2 years hot desirable? Who is in the family takes the functions of baby-sitter? What can the devotion of parents to their child lead to? Is it right that parents pampering the child have got risk to bring up a self-centered and selfish offspring? What makes the politicians think about the birth of absolutely new generation?