This is a Test

Tomorrow starts a week plus of standardized testing for Jada.  I haven't gone as hog wild as last year, when I was trying to help her get into Masterman for 5th grade (for which 3rd grade test scores were a determinant), but I did give her a long pep talk plus some extra practice problems to chew on. 


I think by now Jada gets where I am coming from.  As she grows older, we increasingly fight about academics, since it gets harder and less fun for her and since I think that all the more she needs to push through.

A recent interaction is instructive.  She was lazy on some math homework, so I kept pushing her to concentrate and to think things through.  When she finally got it right, I looked at her with pride and told her I was pleased she was getting it.  But then my look turned stern and I said that I was going to keep hounding her about this.

Being the nosy and morbid person that he is, Aaron piped up from the next room over: "What if you die?"  Without skipping a beat or turning away from Jada, I replied, "Then I will haunt you."  We exchanged smiles: message received, but not without some affection mixed in.