When I was in school, I was never good at taking tests. Something about it seemed so confining and conforming. I was just never the kind of student who did well testing. Certainly I am not holding myself up as a role model. In fact, just the opposite: Do not be like me. My wife is a better example to emulate, as she is always prepared and believes in getting things done early.<\/p>\n
I’m the poster boy for procrastination, whereas she is the complete opposite and is on top of things to a fault. Our daughter is a junior in high school, and so she had to take her first SAT test. Since my wife had a handle on it, I was on cruise-control.<\/p>\n
Then the school held a parents’ night to discuss issues like these and what to expect in the coming senior year. My wife had a previous obligation, so I volunteered to attend and represent the Nagasawa parents. SAT importance was suddenly thrust upon me, as I was doing my baby girl a disservice by not being more engaged. I decided to become the SAT czar.<\/p>\n
I read over the testing requirements and felt I was now the resident expert. But my wife knows better and wouldn’t have it. I begged for some test-preparation responsibility. Mrs. SAT Expert decided to toss me a bone and told me to make sure our daughter had a couple of sharp No. 2 pencils. It was kind of insulting, but that was better than nothing.<\/p>\n
Let me tell you, those pencil people have a monopoly on this gig. If you think about it, instead of investing in Apple or Microsoft, an investment in a pencil company is more of a sure thing. I mean, have you ever heard of a No. 1 or No. 3 pencil? I don’t think they exist. Anyway, on my way home from work, I bought an entire pack of No. 2 pencils.<\/p>\n
That night, as I double-checked and assembled her testing tools, I realized that we didn’t have a freaking pencil sharpener. My wife, cool as a cucumber, pulled out a pack of pre-sharpened No. 2 pencils. I didn’t know you could buy them like that.<\/p>\n
As though this was a competition for who was the better parent, she smirked and shook her head. As I packed the No. 2s into a pencil case, I whispered under my breath, “show off!”<\/p>\n
rnagasawa@midweek.com<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was in school, I was never good at taking tests. Something about it seemed so confining and conforming…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whats-next"],"yoast_head":"\n