My older kid is as strange as I am. Kat has calculated that only two finals are likely to change her grade under any reasonable scenario and that �s not very likely. She�s figured out that if you take tests half the day, much of the other half of the day is free, light studying excepted. She�s figured out that she has much less work finals week than she does when she has a full class load and a lot of homework. In other words, while most kids are sweating out finals week and hating it, Kat�s decided it has advantages over a regular school week.

There�s also something satisfying about putting work together, performing, and then letting it go. Like Kat, I enjoyed that part of finals week. I enjoy that part of doing oral arguments in front of a court as well. Work hard, organize material, sweat it out a bit, do the thing, and then relax knowing that whatever happens next is out of your hands. Check. Done that. On to the next.

This finals week would be even better if she didn�t have a science fair project going. One of the best things about finals week for me was that it was followed by a period of no assignments. She won�t have that joy until next year, especially because her project is coming out backwards and she needs to try to identify why. We suspect that her plants are more affected by the sodium acetate than by the pH of her hydroponic solution but she�s going to have to gather more information from the chemistry teachers on concentrations and then call Grandpa (aka the Science Answer Guy) to discuss it. She doesn�t like having to do the work but she says the saving grace is a chance to talk to the Science Answer Guy. (So, Science Answer Guy, if you�re reading this, start putting your thinking cap on.)

Still, she says it will be a break to have only the science project. No algebra. No Spanish verbs to conjugate. No intricate assignments from Humanities. Just science. She plans to do what she loves and rarely has a chance to do�write.

In the meantime, she�ll sharpen her No. 2 pencils, fill out those answer sheets, and write those essay questions and be almost free in the afternoon. And when it�s over, she�ll have a long weekend, Friday through Tuesday, to write, to read, and to dream. Finally.

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