Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.
今天的父母和孩子穿着一样，听同样的音乐，成为朋友。这是件好事吗？有时，当鲍尔默先生和16岁的女儿伊丽莎白一起听摇滚乐，谈论他们都喜欢的兴趣，比如流行文化时，他会想起自己十几岁时与父母之间更为疏远的关系。
“I would never have said to my mom, ‘Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?’” says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”
鲍尔默说：“我永远不会对妈妈说，‘嘿，新的威泽专辑真的很棒。你觉得怎么样？品味上完全不同。”
Music was not the only gulf. From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.
音乐并不是唯一的鸿沟。从服装和发型到活动和期望，前几代的父母和孩子往往处在不同的轨道上。
Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent-child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.
如今，代沟并没有消失，但在许多家庭中，代沟正在缩小。关于性和毒品等话题的对话在这代人以前是不会发生的。现在它们舒适而普通。亲子活动，从购物到运动，体验信任和友谊，这种感觉可以持续到成年。
No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend.”
难怪今天的贺卡上会有这样的信息：“致我的母亲，我最好的朋友。”
But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents. “There’s still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”
但家庭专家警告说，新的平等也可能导致对父母的尊重减少。黎巴嫩谷学院的心理学教授克里说：“家长们仍然有很多严格和权威，但正在发生变化。在这种变化的过程中，父母之间有很多困惑。”
Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.
家庭研究人员为这些角色和态度的演变提供了多种原因。他们认为20世纪60年代是一个转折点。巨大的文化变革导致了更开放的沟通和更民主的进程，鼓励每个人都有发言权。
“My parents were on the ‘before’ side of that change, but today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’ side,” explains Mr. Ballmer. “It’s not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”
鲍尔默先生解释道：“我的父母在这场转折‘之前’，但今天的父母，40岁的人，在转折‘之后’。如今，父母很难做到这一点，因为生活更难理解或处理，但分享兴趣确实让现在的人做父母更有趣。”
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