Our girls’ school conducts once-a-year week-long achievement testing for its students; this week is the week. In order to get my girls (and myself) to the campus on time, we needed to leave the house at 6:45 this morning. This is very early for us. We left the house almost on time, and were on campus by 7:30 am.

We had a successful morning of testing. My 8th grader reported that for every section of the test she completed, she was the first one finished. The tests covered the skills of reading and reading comprehension, and she’s always tested very high in these areas. Then, very typical of her, she added, “One of the readings was really interesting. It was about youth hostels. It sounds like a lot of fun. I want to travel like that…And, guess what, Mom? They have youth hostels in New Zealand where they filmed ‘The Lord of the Rings’. I want to go.”

After testing, and after filling an almost empty gas tank, we drove home, ate some lunch and all of us lay down for our rest and reading time. My middle schoolers like this time; it’s alone time; it’s a time to recharge. My 8th grader was on the living room couch with a lot of pillows and some easy “fluff” reading. My 6th grader, whose first language is Mandarin Chinese, was lying in her bed with a headset on her head, listening to an audio recording of JRR Tolkein’s, ‘The Hobbit’. I took myself to my bedroom with a stack of new reading material I just received today. Ah! – a little time alone.

We passed a peaceful hour-and-a-half! (We were extra tired after testing.) Then – refreshed – we were up again and going. The girls did some house jobs, then practiced their music lessons: piano, violin, percussion, and voice. I love hearing all the melodies ringing through the house.

After a dinner of spicy chicken soup and homemade bread, the girls went to do the dishes – and boy, do they do a lot of visiting together! Besides the clink of dishes and splash of water, there was much chattering, discussion and laughter emanating from the precincts of the kitchen. During that time, my husband and I had a few minutes of uninterrupted visiting on the couch. That was nice.

Now it’s bedtime. Teeth have been brushed. The karaoke machine has been put away. Daddy is reading a chapter book to the girls. And I am done posting. Tomorrow is another early day.