Capturing the Moment
One of the best weekends of this year has been a 16-hour SAT cramming session. I didn’t think it would go well, which is probably why its awesomeness was intensified. When you have no clue how something will go and suspect it will not be able to work and fall apart, you are doubly excited when it exceeds your wildest expectations.
I bought an SAT practice book for the twins a few years ago and encouraged them to read it and practice many many many times, including last summer when they had a huge chunk of time to do so. I know they’ve picked it up a few times, but they haven’t really attacked it with the gusto I hoped when I brought it home.
So I set aside the weekend before the SAT for a whole family cram session. We would read the book together, eat snacks, and generally walk away from the table feeling super prepared.
I had no clue how we would accomplish this; just that it involved the four of us, the book, and the kitchen table.
*******
I kicked it off with a quote: “The great Lionel Ritchie once said, ‘Aptitude plus attitude determines altitude.’ And that is what we need to remember here. You have the aptitude, but you also need to have a good attitude.”
I was pretty freakin’ proud of that opening.
“Who is Lionel Ritchie?” the Wolvog asked.
“You got that from People magazine. I read that same issue,” the ChickieNob informed me.
“It doesn’t matter where I got it,” I rushed on. “What matters is that it’s wise. And it’s our guiding thought for today. There are very few people out there who would give up a weekend to help. Show me you care.”
And they did. They brought their A-game. I’m not sure what exactly an “A-game” is, but whatever it is, that is what they brought. One person served as note-taker. One person made flashcards. One person skimmed the book and read the highlights aloud. One person ate bamba. We moved through the roles seamlessly, accruing 30 pages of typed notes and a huge stack of flashcards. We did the verbal test one day and the math the other, taking a practice test after each cram session. They brought their score up over 100 points.
So they felt amazing. Which was good, but THAT wasn’t the point. The point was that everyone used their strengths to bring the others over the finish line. The twins continued to study together the next two nights, spreading out in one of their rooms to use the flashcards. They went into the test feeling like if they didn’t do well, it wasn’t for lack of trying.
Did I really want to review math formulas I haven’t needed for 30 years? Of course not. But watching them laugh their way through my comma rules, remembering how fleeting time feels right now, that we are coming up to a day where we won’t be around the kitchen table but instead scattered in different locations, made me want to bottle it so I could keep drinking in the moment in the future. The best I can do is capture it for myself with words.
9 comments
I loved this. The glorious fleeting life stages and burnished moments. They will remember it too, long after the score-results. ❤️
You are a terrific mom. When I took the ACT (SAT was not administered at my high school), back in the 1980s (yes, I am old), my parents’ involvement was limited to (1) paying the test fee, and (2) telling me to do my best. 🙂
That’s awesome!
This past fall, DC1 crammed hard for the PSAT, but other than buying a book (since Khan Academy wasn’t helping enough) and checking answers on one practice exam, I wasn’t allowed to help. Still, the cramming helped a lot! He had forgotten a lot of geometry formulas that he was able to get back in his brain for the actual test. And the reading section is entirely non-trivial.
What great memories you made, for you AND for them. SAT-type testing was not a “thing” when I was in high school (in Canada, in the late 1970s — not sure about these days…?), but if it had been, like Sharon, I doubt my parents would have done much more than wish me luck. (And you can tell the twins I said so, lol.)
(“Who is Lionel Richie?” — yikes!!)
@Sharon same 😂
What does that Lionel Richie quote mean :D!? Love how you used it to scale the summit. What a cozy picture of you all working together and eating snacks and joking around the table… Definitely something to treasure. I’ve been feeling so nostalgic for those days myself. (And sometimes nostalgia happens even as I’m experiencing it…)
You are the best Mel!! I love this inspirational quote and I’m going to file away this teamwork / SAT weekend story for our fam. Greatest mum!
“Who is Lionel Ritchie?” made me laugh too. I wish the twins well. It certainly sounds as if they are well prepared.
My parents wouldn’t have been able to help. I never had homework or exam study help with my parents once I was about 11 or 12. (Though my mother helped me a lot with my piano theory exams.) But we didn’t have SAT type exams either. Rather we had an assessment specifically called “University Entrance.” It is long gone now, though.
(And do I sound nerdy that the weekend sounds quite like fun to me? Even though I’ve forgotten all my high school maths – which I loved but didn’t continue studying.)
Guess you’d better start watching American Idol, so they can associate Lionel Ritchie with something current!
I was just thinking I was derelict in my duties because I have not given a thought to the PSAT my girl is taking in 2 weeks beyond what Sharon’s parents did. Then I remembered she’s a freshman and this is basically test prep.
It sounds like you turned a chore and a bother into an almost fun family activity. Much luck to the twins…