送给妈妈的时间

徐翔 编译

Several years ago I had the privilege of working with a phenomenal group of people in a small marketing company in Phoenix. One of our team members was expecting her second child. Already the mother of an active preschool son, Susan was ever-cheerful but often exhausted by the end of the day.

I noted her increasing fatigue on a daily basis as her pregnancy progressed, and I pondered, “What can we do as a team to give her a baby gift she could really use―now?”

At a team meeting we put our heads together to brainstorm some ideas. The usual baby shower was suggested, lunch out with the girls, etc. After listening to and recording all of the ideas on a dry-wipe board, I thought for a moment and said, “There are all really great suggestions, but what does Susan really need now?”

A bit of stunned silence followed. I offered, “She seems tired. What if we were to give Susan the gift of rest?” I continued, “She seems to be holding up well, but she’s simply exhausted coping with a house, an active son and a full-time job. What if each of the eight of us volunteered to pitch in one extra hour per week to take some of the job responsibilities off of her so she can rest?” The team immediately embraced the idea. The department supervisor gave it the immediate thumbs-up. He also agreed to donate an additional hour of his time per week.

From that time until the day before she delivered her beautiful daughter, Alice, Susan enjoyed taking off any eight hours per week she chose: an hour here or an hour there, a long lunch, time for a nap, or simply one day off per week.

A week after her daughter was born, Susan brought Alice in to the office and there were giggles and coos of delight all around. Each of us received a personally hand-written thank-you note from Susan.

The idea worked so well, it has since been incorporated in other departments of the company. Employees can choose to give one or more hourly increments of earned vacation, volunteer or sick time to coworkers who can benefit from this extraordinary gift when they need it most.

Today Susan and family are doing well.

Ellen Dietz.

几年前，我供职于菲尼克斯的一家小市场公司，幸运的是，与我共事的还有一大批同事。其中有一位马上就要迎来她的第二个小宝宝了，她叫苏珊，已经是一个活泼好动的学龄前孩子的妈妈了，以前她总是兴高采烈的，但最近却常常疲惫不堪。

我注意到，随着预产期的临近，她日渐疲乏，于是我就想：“作为一个团结的队伍，我们应该送她点什么，作为给未来宝宝的礼物？而且这件礼物最好现在就真正能派上用场的。”

于是我们小组开了个碰头会，期望灵感能赐给我们一个好主意:送一个常用的婴儿淋浴或和姑娘们一起出去吃午餐等。我听着他们的建议并抄在了一块黑板上，可是想了又想，我说道：“这些主意都不错，但是苏珊现在真正迫切需要的是什么呢？”

接下来是一阵寂静，我又提议道：“她似乎太累了，把休息作为一份礼物送给她怎么样？”我继续补充：“表面上她似乎还能支撑下去，可是，一个女人要应付家务，一个淘气的儿子和全天的工作，很显然，她体力必然会透支的。如果我们八个人自愿每周多加一小时的班，去为她做一份工作，那么她不就可以休息了吗？”这个建议得到大家的一致认可，部门主管知道后也立即举手赞成，甚至也要求能奉献出他的一小时来。

从那以后，苏珊可以用这每周的8小时做想做的事了，一个小时在这儿，一个小时在那儿，吃饭不用着急了，还可以打个小盹了，每周都能有一天的清闲。这样一直到她漂亮的小艾莉出生。

艾莉出生后的一个星期，苏珊把她抱到办公室里，马上，到处都充满了婴孩咯咯的欢笑声和快乐的唧唧咕咕。同时，我们也都收到了苏珊亲笔的感谢信。

这个主意很受欢迎，甚至被公司的其他部门也采用了，在同事生病或者其他需要帮助的时候，他们总能得到来自其他人为之贡献出的一个小时的假期时间作为礼物。

现在，苏珊一家人生活得十分幸福。