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the living room. It was too much work to dismantle it, so me and Dad just shoved it in the garage. There were diapers taped on all the corners of our family room furniture that were left over from when Mom baby-proofed the house after Manny started crawling. She used packing tape to hold the diapers in place, and THAT wasn't easy to get off. Uncle Gary was on the couch in the family room taking a nap, so we just covered him with a sheet and hoped nobody would want to sit there.

客厅。拆它太麻烦了，所以我和爸爸就把它塞进了车库里。 我们家庭活动室家具的各个角落都贴着尿布，那是曼尼开始爬后妈妈给房子装上婴儿防护装置后留下的。 她用包装胶带把尿布固定在合适的地方，这可不容易取下来。 加里叔叔正在客厅的沙发上打盹，所以我们给他盖上了床单，希望没有人愿意坐在那里。

Next was the kitchen. There's a bulletin board on the wall with different certificates and ribbons that Mom has given as kids over the years. Everything with my name on its use really lame, so I took it off the wall and hid it in the pantry. By the time the stringers showed up, we'd taken care of all the major stuff. But the visit got off to a really shaky start. You remember how I said Manny was afraid of some kid at church who acted like a vampire? Well, it turns out that kid was Wesley Stringer.

接下来是厨房。墙上有一块布告栏，上面贴着妈妈多年来送给孩子的各种证书和丝带。 所有写着我名字的东西都很蹩脚，所以我把它从墙上拿下来藏在了食品室里。 特约记者来的时候，我们已经把主要的事情都处理好了。 但这次访问一开始就很不稳定。 还记得我说过曼尼害怕教堂里一个像吸血鬼一样的孩子吗？ 结果那孩子就是韦斯利·斯金格。

So any hope Mom had of Manny making a new friend was completely out of the window. Manny skipped dinner and spent the rest of the night hiding in his bedroom, which I wish I could've done, because Mom made a fancy meal to impress our guests It was cream of mushroom chicken with asparagus on top. I know asparagus is supposed to be really good for you, but to me it's like kryptonite. I didn't want to look unsophisticated in front of Laurel, so, so I decided to just close my eyes, plug my nose, and choke it down. The grown-ups talked about politics and stuff that wasn't all that interesting, and me and Laurel just

所以妈妈对曼尼交新朋友的希望完全破灭了。 曼尼没吃晚饭，整晚都躲在卧室里，我真希望我也能这么做，因为妈妈做了一顿丰盛的晚餐，让我们的客人印象深刻奶油蘑菇鸡肉，上面放了芦笋。 我知道芦笋应该对你有好处，但对我来说它就像氪石。 我不想在劳蕾尔面前显得幼稚，所以，所以我决定闭上眼睛，堵住鼻子，然后咽下去。 大人们谈论政治和一些不怎么有趣的事情，我和劳蕾尔就

had to sit there and listen. Mom told Mrs. Stringer about some fancy restaurant she goes to with Dad when they have a "date night," and Mrs. Stringer said that she and her husband can never go out for dinner on weekends because Laurel is always off doing something with friends and they can't find a reliable babysitter for Wesley. I told Mrs. Stringer that if they ever need a babysitter, they should call ME. I figured it's a way to get in good with the Stringers and get paid for doing it. Mom liked the idea, to, and she said babysitting would be a great experience for me. Mrs. Stringer seemed pretty impressed, and she asked if I was free tomorrow, so I told her I was. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself here, but

我只能坐在那里听。 妈妈告诉斯金格太太，他们“约会之夜”的时候，她会和爸爸去一家高级餐厅吃饭。斯金格太太说，她和丈夫从来没有在周末出去吃饭，因为劳雷尔总是和朋友出去玩，他们也找不到一个可靠的保姆来照顾韦斯利。 我跟斯金格太太说如果他们需要保姆，就给我打电话。 我觉得这样能讨斯特林格的欢心还能拿钱。 妈妈很喜欢这个主意，她说照看孩子对我来说是一次很棒的经历。 斯金格太太似乎很感动，她问我明天有空吗，我就说有空。 我不想说得太超前，但是

I'm sure one day I'll be sitting around with the Stringers on Thanksgiving and we'll all be laughing about how I used to babysit my brother–in–law, Wesley, when I was in middle school. Saturday Tonight Mom dropped me off at the Stringers' house at 6:30. Mrs. Stringer said Laurel had already gone to a friend's house, which kind of stunk, because I was hoping I might get to see her for a few minutes and talk to her about the dance. Mrs. Stringer said I should put Wesley to bed at 8:00. And that they'd be home around 9:00. She told

我相信有一天我会和斯金格一家围坐在一起过感恩节，我们都会笑着说我在中学时是如何照看我姐夫韦斯利的。 星期六今晚六点半，妈妈把我送到斯金格家。 斯金格太太说劳蕾尔已经去了一个朋友家，这有点糟糕，因为我希望能见她几分钟跟她谈谈舞会的事。 斯金格太太让我8点让韦斯利上床睡觉。 他们会在9点左右到家。 她告诉

me I could watch TV until they got home and to help myself to anything in the fridge. After Mr. and Mrs. Stringer left, it was just me and Wesley. I asked Wesley if he wanted to play a board game or something like that, but he said he wanted to go out in the garage and get his bike. I told him it was too cold to ride his bike outside, but he said he wanted to ride it INSIDE. The Stringers have a really nice house, and I was pretty sure they didn't want Wesley scratching up their hardwood floors. So I told him we needed to find something else to do.

我可以一直看电视，直到他们回家，然后在冰箱里随便吃点东西。 斯金格夫妇走后，就只剩下我和韦斯利了。 我问韦斯利想不想玩棋盘游戏之类的，但他说他想去车库拿他的自行车。 我告诉他外面骑车太冷了，但他说他想在屋里骑。 斯金格家的房子很不错，我很确定他们不想让韦斯利刮坏他们的硬木地板。 所以我告诉他我们得找点别的事做。