I tucked my bookmark in my book. “What’s up?”
“I have a math test tomorrow, and I can’t figure out one of the practice questions.”
I walked over to the table and pulled out the chair next to hers. “Can I see?”
She pushed the paper toward me. The question was:If seven students go to the park, and each student brings five tennis balls with them, how many tennis balls will there be to play with?
I explained that the question was really just asking what seven times five was. Luna pondered this for a while and ended up solving it by adding up seven, five times. Oddly enough, I still remembered how hard it was to memorize multiplication tables at her age. And how innate it was for Drew.
“Nice work!” I said when she finished. “Let’s do the next one.”
For the next two hours, I didn’t get up from the table except to refill our water glasses. We completed all the practice questions in her packet and practiced multiplication tables with flashcards. I felt bad that I didn’t know any tricks to teachher, so I was more or less just providing moral support, working questions out alongside her and holding up the cards, telling her whether she got it right or not.
When she finally decided to take a break, she queued upHow to Train Your Dragonon the TV. I smirked to myself because the book I was reading also had dragons.
I joined her on the couch. “You’ve seen this one?” I had no idea what was appropriate for an eight-year-old to watch. When Luke and I went over everything two days ago we discussed bus schedules and food allergies and homework, but not TV rules.
“Yeah! It’s my favorite.”
Perfect. “Throw it on!”
Half an hour later headlights flashed into the living room. In all honesty, I was thoroughly engrossed in this movie and somewhat disappointed Luke was home to relieve me.
“Hey!” Luke called as he opened the front door.
“Hi, Dad! We’re watchingHow to Train Your Dragon.”
“I can see that.” His mouth curved as he spoke. He seemed amused to find us watching an animated movie.
I lifted my palms and smiled sheepishly.
Luna paused the movie and turned around.
“You finish your homework?” he asked. Luke leaned his elbows over the back of the couch, wearing a ball cap and a polo shirt with aKaras Constructionlogo embroidered on it.
“Yes, Val helped me study for my math test.”
“Did she?” His mouth formed athank youin my direction before tipping up into a grin.
This man had a nice smile.
Luna nodded before turning her attention back to the television and resuming her movie.
I joined Luke in the kitchen.
“Did it go okay?” he asked.
“I think she’s still a little nervous about her math test tomorrow. But we did all the practice questions multiple times, andlotsof flashcards. I think she has it down.”
He stared at me with a slightly awed expression. I almost asked himwhat?but he said, “I’ll go over it with her again after dinner, and give her a pep talk. I think it’s awesome she’s so motivated, but sometimes I wish she didn’t put pressure on herself as a second grader. It feels too early. I didn’t start taking my grades seriously until college, and even then, probably not seriously enough.” He shrugged.
I chuckled at his admission. “I was more like her.” I glanced over to where she sat on the couch. “I remember caring about my grades even in elementary school.”Probably too much, too.“I agree going through it with her one more time will increase her confidence. And throw in that you’re proud of her no matter what grades she gets. I used to like it when my parents would say things like that sometimes.” As the unsolicited tip exited my lips, I had half a second to consider that Luke might not appreciate my parenting advice. I wasn’t a parent, after all.
But I did remember what it felt like to be an oddly ambitious elementary schooler.
One look at his face told me my concern was unwarranted. His expression was open, and he was nodding. I was about to apologize anyway when he said, “Thank you. That’s a great idea. I mean, I tell her I’m proud of her all the time, but I like how you put it.”
I shrugged. “Just a thought from a former stressed-out student.”
