One evening, in the midst of dinner preparation, our ten-year-old daughter Jenny asked“Mommy, what’s puberty?” My wife was rushed at the moment, so she suggested that Jenny look up the word in the dictionary, after which they could talk about it.

A few minutes later, Jenny returned. Her mother asked what the dictionary had said.“Puberty means,” announced Jenny, “the earliest age at which a girl is able to bear children.”

“What do you think of that?” my wife asked.

“I’m not sure,” Jenny replied.“I’ve always been able to bear children. It’s adults I can’t bear.”

一天晚上，在准备晚饭的时候，10岁的女儿詹妮问：“妈妈，什么是青春期？”我妻子此时正在忙得不亦乐乎，就建议詹妮到字典上去查这个词，然后她们可以再讨论。

几分钟后，詹妮回来了。她妈妈问字典上怎么说。“青春期的意思是，”詹妮宣布，“一个女孩忍受孩子的最早年龄。”

“你怎么想的呢？”我妻子问。

“我不知道，”詹妮回答，“我总能忍受孩子，让我忍受不了的是大人。”